Environment Concerns Delay Golf Club Work

The ground breaking for the proposed 355-acre Los Angeles International Golf Club in Tujunga Wash, which was expected to take place this September, will be delayed for six to eight months, a spokesman for the project said.

Steve Timm, director of golf course development for the course’s builder, Cosmo World Corp., said Tuesday that the firm has been required by federal officials to submit environmental impact reports on the project.

He said the U.S Army Corps of Engineers and the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service have concerns about the project and are requiring Cosmo to submit detailed reports on the golf course.

Part of the project is being built in federal waters, which the Corps of Engineers says would require the environmental report, Timm said. The wildlife agency informed the company that the slender-horned spine flower, an endangered species that grows in the wash, must be preserved.

Timm said Cosmo had been preparing an environmental impact report for the Los Angeles City Planning Department when the company was notified by the agencies of the concerns.

He said he hoped to have environmental reports to Los Angeles and federal officials by February of next year. If approved, construction could begin late next year.

The $18-million to $20-million golf course would occupy about 114 acres, and the rest of the site would be devoted to a $3-million drainage system, Timm said.