HomeMy WebLinkAbout2/3/2026 Item 7a, Morgan
Karen Morgan <
To:E-mail Council Website
Subject:Public Comment: 7. 7a. Laguna Lake Golf Course Program Operations and
Maintenance Overview Study Session
In re:
7. 7a. Laguna Lake Golf Course Program Operations and Maintenance Overview Study Session
I live less than a mile from Laguna Lake Golf Course. My husband is a golfer and has played the course
many times. We are longtime supporters of First Tee. Our grandson has run the course while on the
XCountry team at SLOHS.
Regardless, I am supportive of possible re-development of the course for housing for several reasons:
1. SLO County needs to meet state requirements for new housing or may be subject to stiff penalties.
2. LLGC is ideally located on a public transit line, enabling one-car families.
3. It is proximal to an elementary and a middle school.
4. Grocery and other shopping, restaurants, and services are within walking distance.
5. The sale of LLGC would provide immediate financial benefit as well as a continuing revenue stream of
property taxes.
Today, the golf course is a financial burden to taxpayers nearing half a million dollars annually.
The report prepared by Parks and Recreation for the February 3 Council study session is impressive and
thorough, but now I see that re-development of LLGC would not comply with the adopted Blueprint for
the Future: 2021-2024, stipulating one nine-hole golf course per 50,000 residents. Would that require a
new golf course be developed as a replacement?
Cost recovery for 2025/26 is projected at just 36% after years of even greater loss. Renovation and CIP
for 2026-27 are anticipated to be >$850,000, and for 2031-32 anticipated at >$2,000,000. Both these
budget years represent significant financial burden to the City budget without increased revenue.
Many of my neighbors are strongly in support of maintaining LLGC. I agree the golf course is a benefit to
our community. In order to stand with them, I want to know:
1. How will future budgets be balanced?
2. To what degree will those who utilize the course pay for it?
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3. How will subsidization of the course not diminish other community services of greater benefit to a
larger segment of the population?
Thank you for your work on this challenging issue.
Karen Morgan
PS: Perhaps “irrigation leek” should be corrrected.
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