List of Requests

I am investigating the ownership status of the land space that is the Willowick Golf Course, owned (I am told) by the City of Garden Grove. This is a confusing situation, as I was sent information about some sort of lease, held by the City of Garden Grove, but I do not see any identification of the "owner" of the Willowick Golf Course in that information. I need to know if the City of Garden Grove "owns" or "leases" that Willowick Golf Course property at this time. OR is it the City of Santa Ana that owns the land, and is "leasing" it to Garden Grove? This chain of ownership is what I need to find out about. I need to know:
(1) Who and/or what currently OWNS the Willowick Golf Course land as of NOW, and what are their names, and are "they" a government entity (i.e. City of Garden Grove or Santa Ana), or private persons?
(2) Where is that Willowick Golf Course land located? (I.e. on top of land belonging to the City of Garden Grove OR land belonging to the City of Santa Ana?).
Surely, there are documents specifying exactly these things, above.

I am investigating the ownership status of the land space that is the Willowick Golf Course, owned (I am told) by the City of Garden Grove. This is a confusing situation, as I was sent information about some sort of lease, held by the City of Garden Grove, but I do not see any identification of the "owner" of the Willowick Golf Course in that information. I need to know if the City of Garden Grove "owns" or "leases" that Willowick Golf Course property at this time. OR is it the City of Santa Ana that owns the land, and is "leasing" it to Garden Grove? This chain of ownership is what I need to find out about. I need to know:
(1) Who and/or what currently OWNS the Willowick Golf Course land as of NOW, and what are their names, and are "they" a government entity (i.e. City of Garden Grove or Santa Ana), or private persons?
(2) Where is that Willowick Golf Course land located? (I.e. on top of land belonging to the City of Garden Grove OR land belonging to the City of Santa Ana?).
Surely, there are documents specifying exaclty

From: "Billy Graham"
To: "info" , "Lisa Kim"
Sent: Thursday, July 11, 2019 6:14:44 PM
Subject: LISA KIM, Dir. Comm. and Econ. Devel. City of GG, about the Willowick Golf Course, that's protected land....

RE: Unlawful intent to convert the Willowick Golf Course property to serve a "nonpark purpose."

Dear Ms. Kim or other person who responds to this email message;
I heard from a fellow golfer that Willowick is being shut down, converted to a non-park purpose? According to the Public Parks Preservation Act of 1971, Pub. Res. Code sec. 5400 et. seq., that cannot be done without replacing the golf course (park) property there with another equal size park property -- correct? (It was "held" in the case of Save Mile Square Park Committee v. County of Orange (2001) 92 Cal.App.4th 1142 that government-owned golf courses are "park" type properties serving a "park purpose.") So what is going on? Willowick was used as a public park -- a golf course -- for years and years, owned by the City of Garden Grove, though more recently the City of Santa Ana maintaining it -- you might have to explain to me how that works. But the point is you guys in the City of Garden Grove AND the City of Santa Ana are plotting on a way to CONVERT that government-owned golf course that has been so OBVIOUSLY serving a "park purpose" for many, many decades, and change it into a property NOT serving a park purpose, and serving a "nonpark purpose." Again, that cannot be done.

Now, I would like to point out that I am looking for facts about the intentions of the City of Garden Grove. I heard back from a Vince Fregoso from the Planning and Building Agency of Santa Ana, and he indicates clearly that the City of Santa Ana's position is that the Willowick Golf Course is not a "park" property nor serving a "park purpose" because only golfers that pay green fees are free to access all of the area of the property. That was, as you will see, a fact duly considered by the Appellate Court in the case of Save Mile Square Park Committee, etc. that I cited. That (paying green fees) did not make a difference there in that case, and so I expect that if a lawsuit is filed that it will not make a difference to a trial court that green fees are paid to use all the golf course, where the trial court judge must be "bound" by that Appellate decision. So please let me know the City of Garden Grove's position on the matter.

A second request here is for information about the history of the Willowick Golf Course. I Understand that in 1964 the Willowick Golf Course was acquired by the City of Garden Grove? It was run as a golf course for the benefit of the public for maybe a decade until the golf course was "leased" as a public golf course to some private party/entity (maybe around 1975), and run as a government owned golf course where the private party/entity was paying the City of GG some kind of lease fee and profiting otherwise? Is this all correct? Please give me details about the initial purchase of the property by the City of GG in the 1960s, details about the first lease to the private person/entity in the 1970s, and all subsequent lease information.... thanks. IF I MUST MAKE A FOIA REQUEST, that is fine, I will do that, but I would like to know such details as the dates of the acquisition, lease agreements, etc., so that I can direct the records department staff of the City of GG to recover copies of the documents I need, and nothing I don't need.

So, to summarize:
Please provide me with the City of Garden Grove's POSITION on the disposition of the Willowick Golf Course property -- whether it is the City's position that they can simply convert the property to a "nonpark purpose" at their will, or do they agree to comply with the mandate of Public Resources Code sections 5400 et seq. -- AND provide me with details about the initial acquisition of the Willowick Golf Course in the 60s, the initial lease in the 70s, etc.

Please get back to me as soon as possible, thanks.

Sincerely,
Jack Graham

As a clarification to Request No. 1 in prior PRA 4716 (“All records or documents that refer or relate to the intended use of the Willowick Golf Course from January 1, 2010, to the present”), this request includes, but is not limited to, all records that constitute, reflect, or refer to any offers by the City made between March 20, 2019, through the present to sell, lease, or otherwise transfer the property at Willowick Golf Course to any person or entity, public or private, or nonprofit. As this is a clarification of an existing PRA request and not a new request, it should be governed by the same statutory deadlines applicable to the remainder of PRA 4716. Thank you.

Dear Clerk of the Council:

Pursuant to the California Public Records Act, Government Code Sections 6250, et seq., we request that you make available to us, within ten (10) days, for our review and copy the public records in the possession, custody, or control of the City of Garden Grove as described below. It is our desire to secure these records with as little burden as possible on you and other City staff; accordingly, please do hesitate to contact us if there are alternative ways of securing the requested information in a more streamlined fashion.

Definitions Used in this Request:

Regarding the following requests, we have provided the following definitions to specify as clearly as possible the nature of each request:

“The City” refers to the City of Garden Grove and includes all of its officers, agents, and departments, including without limitation, the Garden Grove City Council and Mayor, as well as all Garden Grove City agencies, commissions, and committees.

“Inventory” means any inventory or list of lands held, owned, or controlled by the City, including but not limited to, any inventory prepared pursuant to Government Code Section 50569.

“Records” and “Documents” refers to the following: All “writings” as defined in Section 250 of the California Evidence Code, namely “handwriting, typewriting, printing, Photostatting, photographing, photocopying, transmitting by electronic mail or facsimile, and every other means of recording any tangible thing, any form of communication or representation, including letters, words, pictures, sounds, or symbols, or combinations thereof, and any record thereby created, regardless of the manner in which the record has been stored.”

“Opportunity Zone” refers to the economically-development tool that was added to the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act of 2017.

Requests:

Pursuant to the Public Records Act, please provide us with all of the following Records:

1. All records or documents that refer or relate to the intended use of the Willowick Golf Course from January 1, 2010, to the present.
2. All records or documents that refer or relate to any change in use by the City for the Willowick Golf Course from January 1, 2010, to the present.
3. All records or documents that refer or relate to the source of funds used to acquire the Willowick Golf Course from January 1, 2010, to the present.
4. All records or documents that refer or relate to the present zoning designation of the Willowick Golf Course from January 1, 2010, to the present.
5. All records or documents that refer or relate to the designation of the area where the Willowick Golf Course is located as an Opportunity Zone from December 22, 2017, to the present.
6. An inventory of the land designated by the City as surplus from January 1, 2010, to the present.
7. All records or documents that refer or relate to the method of acquisition and ownership of the Willowick Golf Course by the City of Garden Grove.
8. All records or documents that refer or relate to the method of ownership of the Willowick Golf Course by the City of Garden Grove from January 1, 2010, to the present.

We have attempted to be as specific as we can to designate the public records as requested without the need to access the records themselves. If you find any of these requests insufficiently focused, we request that you provide the assistance required by Government Code Section 6253.1, including “assisting the member of the public to identify records and information that are responsive to the request or the purpose of the request.”

If you believe any portion of the information we have requested is exempt from disclosure by express provision of the law, Government Code Section 6253(a) additionally requires that you segregate or delete the exempted material and release the remainder of the information. Please make the information requested available for our review before charging us for copies. Where the information is contained in electronic databases, we request you provide such information in electronic form, pursuant to Government Code Section 6253.9.

Thank you in advance for your timely attention to this request. Please do not hesitate to contact us.

Sincerely,

Karen Romero Estrada
Research and Policy Analyst
Orange County Communities Organized for Responsible Development

Two requests here:

(1) I am interested in the Garden Grove historical zoning and property designation for all of the land that is the Willowick Golf Course, now owned by the City of Santa Ana (apparently), but owned up until a few years ago by the City of Garden Grove (if it is not still owned by the City of Garden Grove). I understand the City of GG bought the land in 1964 from whomever owned it. It was zoned as maybe a golf course property before that? I am interested in that. I am also interested in what the Willowick Golf Course property was designated to be by GG at and after its purchase in 1964, and all changes in designation (if any) from the 1964 acquisition date to the point in time it sold the property to Santa Ana.

(2) I am also interested in seeing the "lease agreements" between the City of GG and whomever it is (whatever it is) that was provided a "lease" on the Willowick Golf Course property after it was acquired by the City of GG, and any and all changes to that lease up to the date the City of GG may have (or did) sold the land here (more recently) to the City of Santa Ana.

Please see attachment.
re: All Records that refer or relate to the City’s ownership of the Willowick Golf Course, located at 3017 West 5th Street, Santa Ana, California 92703-1898, from January 1, 1980, to the present.