Residents give city clear message on future of closed Modesto Municipal Golf Course
Many community members delivered a clear message at a Tuesday meeting over the future of the Modesto Municipal Golf Course: Keep it as open space in a part of the city that does not have many nice things and do not build housing.
More than 75 people filled the auditorium at the King-Kennedy Memorial Center in west Modesto for the city’s third public meeting for the 54-acre, nine-hole, course, which the city closed about two and a half years ago.
City officials sought feedback on a concept plan for the course, which is along Tuolumne Boulevard and near Highway 99. John Thurman Field, the city-owned facility for the Modesto Nuts minor league baseball team, sits behind the course.
The concept has housing on about 18 acres in the northwest side of the course, commercial development on about 7 acres just east of that and recreation on about 27 acres. The concept shows the Mancini Hall Senior Center remaining and calls for extending Sunset Avenue north to Tuolumne Boulevard.
City officials stress this is a concept based on feedback from a previous meeting and no decisions have been made. Officials were seeking input on the types of housing, commercial development and recreation audience members wanted.
But many audience members who spoke were adamant about keeping the course for recreation and open space. These speakers drew the most applause from the audience.
“There is no other open space like this in Modesto,” one speaker said. “Don’t destroy it.”
Speakers said they understand Modesto has a housing crisis, especially for families of modest means. But they said the city can build housing on the many vacant lots and shuttered storefronts throughout Modesto and not at the Municipal Golf Course. They said the property is a jewel of west Modesto, one of the city’s oldest, most diverse and poorest communities.
Desperate families
Some speakers accused the city of wanting affordable housing in a part of the city that lacks the political clout and resources to fight back. They asked what would happen if the city tried to build affordable housing in Graceada and Enslen parks in the college area, one of Modesto’s nicest and most politically powerful neighborhoods.
Speakers in favor of housing at the golf course said it’s big enough for housing, recreation and stores.
West Modesto Community Collaborative CEO Perfecto Munoz appeared to be the only audience member who drew applause as he advocated for housing. The collaborative operates the King-Kennedy Memorial Center on the city’s behalf.
He emphasized that when people are advocating for housing, they are advocating for families.
Munoz said west Modesto families are being priced out by investors who come in, buy homes and turn them into rentals. He said a family that had been paying $900 a month is now being asked to pay twice as much.
He said families speak with him daily at his office in the center to seek help with housing. And when he goes home at night, he knows a mom and her daughter will be parked in the center’s parking lot, he said. That is where they sleep. He said the girl is a Modesto High student.
“It’s heartbreaking,” Munoz said about the desperate need for housing.
Residents who live near the course have told The Bee it provides open space and beauty for them and their neighbors. The tree-studded course is surrounded by homes, and walkers and joggers travel along its perimeter. Families strolled and picnicked on the course when the golfers had left for the day.
The city never fenced off the course. There were a few homeless campsites on the course last week.
Residents have said that they don’t feel safe in nearby city parks, though Modesto has received state grants of $8.5 million each to remake and improve nearby Cesar Chavez and Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. parks.
Opened in 1933
Muni opened in 1933 as Modesto’s first golf course. The City Council closed it because Modesto cannot afford three city-owned courses. The 18-hole Dryden and Creekside golf courses remain open.
Audience members’ comments took up much of the 90 minutes allotted for Tuesday’s meeting. City officials made brief opening and closing remarks. Some of the speakers were passionate. At lease one criticized the city, saying it overstated the public support for housing at the golf course in coming up with its concept plan.
Some audience members talked about the city partnering with Modesto High School to build sports fields on part of the golf course. The city has spoken with Modesto City Schools about its potential interest in land at the course.
Modesto held another meeting Wednesday over Zoom. That meeting was much more polite, appeared to have fewer attendees and ended early. The city now has held four meetings to gather public input on the golf course’s future.
Parks Planning and Development Manager Nathan Houx said at Wednesday’s meeting that city staff will review the comments from the meetings as part of determining Modesto’s next steps.
He could not yet say what those steps are, and while the city does not have a time line, its “goal is to move this along.” Houx said the City Council will make the final decision at a public meeting in which residents can address the council.
