GOLFERS CLOSER TO TEE TIME AT TUJUNGA WASH.

Byline: Rick Orlov Daily News Staff Writer

A decade after it was first proposed, a controversial plan to develop a 160-acre public golf course in the Tujunga Wash won a critical step Tuesday toward its approval.

With Councilman Joel Wachs calling it the toughest decision in his 26-year career, the City Council's Planning and Land Use Management Committee approved the permit for the golf course - but set 72 conditions that must be met before it can open.

Chief among them is that half of the 400-acre site be set aside as a wildlife preserve, and that developers maintain hiking, jogging and riding trails on the property and in the surrounding area.

``These are the toughest conditions ever imposed on a golf course, but it's worth it if we can open up,'' said David Hueber, president of Foothills Golf Development Corp.

The $12 million Red Tail Golf and Equestrian Club will be considered by the full council in early July. With Wachs behind the proposal - because it is in his district - approval is expected.

Construction could begin in March 1998.

Wachs told the committee he sympathized with community members who sought to retain the entire acreage as open space, but he feared dragging the developer along would expose the city to legal action.

``To keep this open, the government would have to buy it,'' Wachs said. ``Despite talk about the (Santa Monica Mountains) Conservancy stepping in, so far they have not come up with any money.''

Rex Frankel of the Sierra Club said his organization remains opposed because of the threat to wildlife.

``This is just an inappropriate place and will interfere with the migratory patterns of wildlife,'' Frankel said. ``If the city was serious about this and the need for a new golf course they would put it in Lopez Canyon, which already has been despoiled.''

But Mark Armbruster, who represents the developer, said the project will serve to further protect wildlife and conforms with plans that call for recreational open space to be made available to the public.

The preserve is designed to protect the slender-horned spine flower and other protected biological species on the site. Other conditions imposed on the golf course include the use of pesticides, landscaping, hours of operation and parking.

In the 10 years it has been discussed, the golf course has served to divide the community.

Some residents have supported the development as a way to clean up the Tujunga Wash by eliminating graffiti and making other improvements. Apart from wildlife impacts, others fear the project lies in a flood plain and eventually will be washed out.

Bill Eick, a lawyer and resident of the area, said he was not about to surrender his opposition.

``I thought this was an incorrect decision and now it will be up to the full City Council,'' Eick said. ``At that time, there will be a different vote and maybe a different decision.

``This is just an incredibly sensitive area and there is no need to have the second-longest golf course in the city located there. They could have looked at other options.''

Other problems have dogged the project because the land is owned by Kajima Corp., which has given Hueber a 30-year lease on the property. Unions in the city have been involved with protests against Kajima because of its refusal to hire union workers at its downtown New Otani Hotel.

Hueber said the golf course is to be designed by the firm owned by Jack Nicklaus, with no decision made on who will build it.

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MAP: PROPOSED GOLF COURSE