Rancho La Habra

A Great Plan for a Great Town

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A Vision for a Better La Habra

As the owners of Westridge Golf Club recognized that higher water costs and the declining popularity of golf threatened the future of the golf course, planning began for Rancho La Habra — a new home community that is sensitively designed to make La Habra a better place to live.
Today, unless you pay a green fee, you can’t walk onto Westridge Golf Club. It is shut off from the non-golfing public and offers recreation for only a relatively few golfers. This recreation comes at a high cost – 90 million gallons of potable (drinking) water used every year to irrigate the greens and fairways, plus ongoing mowing and chemical spraying to keep the turf healthy. Golf course operating costs, especially for irrigation water, have risen dramatically, while both locally and nationally the number of golf rounds played has dropped. In the last decade, 7 million golfers left the game and more than 600 golf courses closed, including three in Orange County.
"At this time, the outlook for improvement in [Westridge Golf Club’s] operating performance is highly uncertain. The golf market has remained relatively flat over the past several years, despite an improving economy, and irrigation water costs are likely to continue to increase.”

– Economic Evaluation of Westridge Golf Club, Pro Forma Advisors LLC

Tomorrow, with approval of the CalAtlantic Homes'℠ plan for Rancho La Habra, the public will be able to enjoy new public parks and trails on this land, as a well-planned new-home community unfolds. Rancho La Habra is designed to use less water, provide financial benefits to the City and local schools, increase recreational opportunities in La Habra – and of course, offer homes with the newest designs and amenities to La Habra families who want to move up without moving out of town.

A New Neighborhood

CalAtlantic Homes, created through the merger of Ryland and Standard Pacific, has nearly 100 years of experience building well-crafted homes in thoughtful new home communities. Our homes are designed to meet the desires of entry level to luxury home buyers in 41 metropolitan areas spanning 17 states. This experience has been applied to create a dynamic vision for Rancho La Habra. With careful planning, fiscal benefits to the City and many new public amenities, Rancho La Habra is designed to be a good neighbor to established near-by residents. Rancho La Habra, to be built where Westridge Golf Club is today (between Idaho Street and Beach Boulevard in southern La Habra), is proposed as follows:
  • 422 homes – 277 single-family and 145 multi-family in four distinctive neighborhoods, one of which will be gated.
  • A 2.6-acre commercial site on Imperial Highway, offering new shopping and dining opportunities – and a new source of property tax and sales tax revenue to the City. Alternatively, the City could approve the site for 49 additional multi-family homes, instead of a commercial site.
  • Nearly 58% open space, with 42.3 acres of new public parkland, sensitively designed wildlife habitat areas and vegetated slopes.
  • Approximately 2.6 miles of proposed new public trails through the site, linking to and expanding the regional trails system.
Plan
Under the new plan, CalAtlantic Homes has offered to renovate and redesign the existing Westridge Golf Club clubhouse and its surroundings, creating a high-quality and highly amenitized La Habra Community Center. The proposed Community Center would be dedicated to the City for the enjoyment of all La Habra residents.

Community Center Plan

The illustration above shows CalAtlantic Homes Proposed Changes to Westridge Golf Club Clubhouse to Create a New La Habra Community Center.

  • A. The existing golf course club house would be renovated, making it an ideal venue for City, community and club meetings, wedding and parties.

    B. A children’s water play area with bubbling spurts of water would offer cooling fun on warm days.

    C. An amphitheater would be added for weddings, concerts, theater and even movies under the stars.

    D. The existing lake, which currently is filled entirely with potable (drinking) water would become the center of a more sustainable new water feature that will create a pleasing

  • backdrop for outdoor adventures while cleaning runoff from surrounding neighborhoods.

    E. A proposed new tot lot will make the Community Center especially enjoyable for young families.

    F. The proposed new park would rise in a series of step-ups from the Community Center, with recreation areas and a stream.

    G. The existing exit from Westridge will be improved and re-routed. The gate will remain, making this route accessible only to Westridge residents.

The Rancho La Habra Vision

These principles will guide the planning of Rancho La Habra and our work with the City and neighbors as the public review process moves forward:

  • Incorporate Sustainability into the Plan’s DNA: Incorporate water-saving and energy-saving design and technology into the site plan, open space management and the new homes.
  • be-a-good-neighborBe a Good Neighbor: Recognize the legitimate concerns of our neighbors, listen carefully, respond straightforwardly, and work to carry out the new community in a way that brings new benefits and amenities to La Habra.
  • Be a Partner with La Habra: Create a plan that generates positive cash flow for the City, brings new public parks, trails and open space, and supports essential services, like police, fire and schools. Encourage public participation and be a public participant.
  • Keep the La Habra Homebuyer in Mind: Propose a mix of homes at a range of prices, so La Habra residents who want to move to a new home without moving out of town can find a Rancho La Habra home that meets their needs.

More details on how we are working to incorporate the Rancho La Habra Vision into our plans are available on the Benefits and Facts pages of this website.

If you have questions or comments, please send them to us via the Contact Us/Comments page.