ORANGE : Golf Course Site’s Future to Be Studied

The City Council authorized spending up to $10,000 to study what should happen to the Santiago Golf Course site, which was most recently slated for 160 houses and a shopping center.

After nearly 10 years of fighting about at least three different proposals to develop the site, residents led by the Santiago Creek Greenway Committee persuaded the council in August to stop development of the site. The group wants the city to explore purchasing the former 37-acre golf course to create a city park or greenway.

The funds approved this week are the first city monies to go toward the project and will be used to hire a consultant who specializes in the acquisition and design of urban open spaces.

The consultant will study recreational uses for the site as well as research funding sources to help purchase the land, said Howard DeCruyenaere, president of the Santiago Creek Greenway Committee. The value of the site, which includes the golf course, a former housing tract and city and county land, will be determined within six to eight weeks by an appraiser approved by the committee and city staff, said Scott Morgan, senior assistant to the city manager.

Michael Hennessey, a member of the Greenway committee, said he was encouraged by the city’s cooperation and asked for continued support.

“We are as determined now as the day we started,” Hennessey said. “We will not let go. We will not relent.”

The city also lifted the 90-day moratorium on development proposals for the site in response to a request from Santiago Associates, a partnership of the William Lyon and Burnett-Ehline Development companies.

Lynn Burnett told the council that any action by his firm would not affect the Greenway committee’s efforts, but he reminded the council that “we have not been on hold for just . . . 90 days, we’ve been involved with this project for 4 1/2 years.”