Golf Course at Mile Square Park

The county supervisors recently voted 5 to 0 to approve the environmental impact report for the planned expansion of the existing nine-hole golf course at Mile Square Regional Park to 18 holes.

Based upon my estimates, the golf course expansion will use approximately $200 million of parkland. This is based upon the purchase price of $38 million from the federal government, the fact that the federal government generally does not sell land at true market value to other governmental agencies, and rates of appreciation of land in the area around the park.

Since there will be nine holes added to the golf course, the expansion will cost taxpayers about $20 million per hole. The county will receive at best $2.1 million per year for usage of the land. What is wrong with this picture?

If this is an indication of the planning ability of the supervisors, I think their county airport plans at El Toro should be carefully scrutinized.

JACK LEE

Westminster

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I am writing this letter on behalf of a 6-year-old boy who visits his grandmother every day while his mother works.

This young lad first showed me how well he could ride his skateboard last year. In another couple of years he will be old enough to ride his skateboard on the sidewalk at the south end of Mile Square Regional Park, as the older teenagers do.

He will ride his skateboard on the sidewalk because Orange County Supervisor Charles V. Smith wants to fence in another large section of the park to prevent the public from using the park.

This same fence will also prevent me from riding my old three-speed bicycle in the park. Granted, I can’t ride my bicycle very far or very fast because at age 73, my legs are acting up and the strain of anything beyond the case of first gear causes a severe ache.

But I can still stop and rest as I watch others enjoy themselves with their bows and arrows, their volleyballs, their model airplanes and other things.

My wife and I have lived next to Mile Square Regional Park for 28 years. We bought our house because of the promise of a public park next to us.

When my grandson was a teenager, he was taught to play golf by volunteer instructors and became interested enough in the game to spend a lot of after-school time at the park with the instructors.

But he couldn’t play golf on the golf course because the golf courses are not open to the public. They are open only to those who can afford to pay a profit to the company that leases the parklands from the county. The two existing golf courses are not operated as “not for profit.”

JAMES HYEK

Fountain Valley

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The benign coverage of the cynical and self-serving theft of public parkland in Mile Square Regional Park by the Orange County Board of Supervisors for conversion into a third golf course leaves me with mixed emotions.

It appears that The Times is not interested in using its journalistic clout to defend the interests of the average citizen.

One hundred and thirty-eight acres of land that could be developed for the benefit of the entire Orange County public will be fenced off and reserved for those few who have the unique skill, money and free time to pursue the game of golf.

What is particularly reprehensible is that the Board of Supervisors targeted parkland in an area that has a large immigrant population.

These citizens rely heavily upon Mile Square park for recreation. Unfortunately, they do not have the political clout to defend their interests.

I had hoped that The Times would have spoken forcefully against this abuse of power. But it appears that you are more interested in devoting editorial space toward “politically correct” assaults on individual choices such as tobacco use and gun ownership than standing up for the interests of the average citizen.

JIM MURPHY

Westminster

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Due to the encroachment of housing, many of the places for hobbies and sports afforded by the Triangle Area of Mile Square Regional Park have been closed.

The county already boasts 63 golf courses. With the addition of the two courses planned as part of the development of the Tustin air station, this number comes to 65. We have no shortage of golf courses.

Many of today’s aircraft and aerospace engineers, not to mention our astronauts, got their start flying gliders, model planes and model rockets.

Educators, parents, hobbyists and the public in general should be up in arms about this rip-off.

RICK HOUPT

Anaheim