The Verdugo Hills Golf Course Committee, an activist group looking to preserve the course, had already been pressuring the County of Los Angeles, the Santa Monica Mountains Conservancy and the cities of Los Angeles and Glendale to pitch in for a shared purchase of the property.
The plan was given its first semblance of financial credibility when Los Angeles County Supervisor Michael Antonovich committed $1.7 million in county funds to purchase the course.
MWH Development initiated its environmental impact review process in December, but has expressed willingness to consider selling the property instead of building the project.
The golf course committee is now lobbying other jurisdictions to commit funds.
City pursues Rockhaven buy
City officials decided on Dec. 4 to pursue purchasing the site of the historic 84-year old Rockhaven Sanitarium after the City Council agreed to commit $13 million to build a new Montrose library on the property.
Councilmen Frank Quintero and John Drayman pushed the plan after refusing an alternate $11-million plan to rehabilitate the current library and adjoining Fire Station 29 on Honolulu Avenue.
In December, the council gave a clear directive to pursue the 3.5-acre Rockhaven site — a portion of which would house the new library — after Drayman, who first floated the idea to purchase Rockhaven, criticized the $11-million rehabilitation as a 10-year delay of the inevitable.
Ararat Home put the property up for sale in January.
The Rockhaven plan, which is estimated to ultimately cost about $31.5 million, has received support from Montrose and La Crescenta residents who want the site, which was once the home of the historic Rockhaven Sanitarium, preserved as open space.
Leader embroiled in fraud allegations
