Left-wing California lawmaker takes another swing at golf in name of housing and climate change

Liberal California lawmakers are teeing off on golf courses again.

After a series of legislative mulligans attempting to convert public courses into affordable housing, the California State Assembly has advanced a new bill that would provide grants to municipalities to redevelop publicly owned links. Backers believe golf should take a backseat to housing and that building on courses will help fight climate change.

“This is a voluntary program for municipally owned golf courses for communities that want to look at the possibility of converting them into a combination of open space and affordable housing to help address two dire needs in our community,” Assemblywoman Cristina Garcia said.

The bill states that redevelopment of golf courses for housing must include 25% of new units designated as affordable housing, and 15% of the land must be public open space. California has about 1,100 golf courses, about 250 of which are owned by local governments. Proponents believe wiping out those public courses could make way for 375,000 housing units.

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It's not Garcia's first swing at duffers. A fact sheet accompanying a previous version of the bill that was defeated in January said that building houses on golf courses would be good for the environment.

"Golf courses proliferate in and around California’s urban centers," the fact sheet said. "As golf declines, the state can craft a ‘grand bargain’ to encourage redevelopment of golf courses in a way that promotes equity and affordability, and fights climate change.”

Prior to the version defeated in January, Garcia had pushed a version that stripped the classification of golf courses as parks under the state Public Park Preservation Act. That would have made it easier to rezone them for housing.

Golfing advocates say public courses facilitate youth programs, including ones for economically disadvantaged urban youth. They also warn that not counting courses as public parkland could lead to paving over a host of open-space amenities, all in the name of affordable housing.

"The Public Park Preservation Act is not just parkland golf’s backstop against commercial development; it is every parkland amenity’s bulwark against development," the Southern California Golf Association wrote. "Golf is just the canary more deeply positioned in this proverbial coal mine. Soccer, baseball, bike paths, hiking trails, swimming pools, equestrian centers, nature centers, tennis courts, pickleball, and land trusts/conservancies are very much in the mine with us whether they all know it or not."

Republican Assemblyman Kelly Seyarto, who voted against Garcia's bill, said urban golf courses such as Los Angeles's Chester L. Washington Golf Course provide programs for youth who have no realistic access to rural courses.

“I fear that losing space like that for them will be impacting their lives because, if it’s not available at Chester L. Washington and that’s turned into housing instead, then they’re not going to have the opportunity,” Seyarto told the Center Square.

But Garcia believes golf is a sport for the privileged few and that the need for housing outweighs their desire to play 18 holes.

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"Public golf courses subsidize the hobby of a few people with sufficient means to afford the pricey equipment and pay the “green fee,” which is literally admission to occupy public space," Garcia wrote in a recent op-ed submission to the Sacramento Bee. "We can reprioritize the basic housing needs of individuals and families when we use the land to build new neighborhoods and community amenities for today’s workforce."

Garcia's latest effort passed in the Assembly Housing and Community Development Committee this week and will have to go through the Assembly Appropriations Committee to get a floor vote.