City to exempt new Cobbs Creek Golf Course project from anti-erosion regulation

Philadelphia City Councilmember Curtis Jones Jr. has introduced legislation to exempt a private foundation building the new Cobbs Creek Golf Course from a steep slope ordinance designed to limit erosion — a measure the group says is needed for wetlands restoration.

The exemption, however, would apply to the entire course being renovated by the Cobbs Creek Foundation. Officials say the exemption is needed for work around the creek bed and some of the golf course. The course, first opened over a century ago, had to close in part due to flooding and erosion problems.

Also regarding the course, the city Art Commission recently approved designs for a new multitiered driving range and youth education center on the site as part of the $65 million redo of the course.

Steep slope ordinances are widely used by states and municipalities to limit development, prevent erosion from the felling of trees, and slow stormwater runoff that can pollute streams and rivers. The ordinances are also used to preserve aesthetics.

Cutting down hundreds of trees earlier this year to rebuild the historic course from scratch outraged some local residents.

» READ MORE: Clear-cutting woods for Philadelphia’s Cobbs Creek Golf Course project angers local group and birders

Maita Soukup, a spokesperson for Parks and Recreation, which owns the land, said the exemption introduced Thursday is necessary for the Cobbs Creek Foundation as part of wetlands restoration. A public hearing is required before the exemption is adopted, but no date has been set.

“The revitalization of the Cobbs Creek Golf Course will breathe new life into the 100+ year-old course, following years of erosion and flooding from the creek that washed away large sections of the greens and fairways, making the course essentially unplayable,” Soukup said in an email.

“The Cobbs Creek Foundation is working to rebuild 3+ miles of creek bed and restore the Cobbs Creek Golf Course back to its historic 1916 design,” she wrote. “The exemption introduced in Council today will allow these necessary elements of the golf course restoration project” to move forward.

The area undergoing wetlands restoration includes sloped areas. The ordinance exempts the entire course from “site clearing … and/or Earth Moving Activities.”

Jeff Shanahan, president of the foundation, said in an email that the exemption is necessary for “work on the creek bed and on three of the course’s original golf holes.”

His organization is putting in $20 million in improvements to the creek area and creating 37 acres of wetlands to ease flooding. He said the state Department of Environmental Protection has approved those plans, and that the foundation is awaiting approval from the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers.

“There are numerous trees that grew in over the last century on the existing golf holes that require removal in order to restore the golf course, for both playability and agronomy,” Shanahan said. “Additionally, the property has steep slopes that must be disturbed as part of the creek restoration in accordance with the plan approved by the state Department of Environmental Protection.”

Shanahan said the foundation “does not take the removal of trees lightly” but some had to be removed as part of the creek bed restoration project. He said the foundation has pledged $250,000 to TreePhilly for use in planting 750 heritage street trees in nearby neighborhoods that need them.

He also said 15,000 trees, plants, and shrubs will be planted across the 350 acre golf course property.

The introduction of the steep slope exemption ordinance comes a week after the Arts Commission approved two key components of the course’s design: a multistory, 27-acre driving range and a youth education center. The commission had rejected concept plans for the two components in April saying they needed more clarification.

The commission voted Nov. 9 to accept the designs after a foundation presentation on site improvements, stormwater management, lighting, and landscaping. The plans call for clearing 13.1 acres of trees for the driving range that included 150 heritage trees (notable for uniqueness, age, or size), and 250 dead or diseased trees. The foundation said it would plant 62 deciduous trees, 42 evergreens, and 290 arborvitae to serve as hedges.

Supporters from the public, including teachers, said they eagerly anticipated the youth education center and associated programs the foundation has promised to instruct local school children in golf. Detractors of the plans said they were still wary of how environmental issues are being handled.