Developer proposes 316 apartments, park dedication and golf-course realignment; Santa Clara holds EIR scoping meeting

City of Santa Clara planner Daniel Sotczyk opened a May 2025 scoping meeting for an Environmental Impact Report (EIR) on a proposed redevelopment of land adjacent to Prune Ridge, describing a plan by the property owners to build a single apartment building with a central parking structure, dedicate parkland to the city and reconfigure part of the existing golf course.

The proposal described at the meeting calls for 316 apartment units, a multi‑level parking structure the project team at times described as seven stories and which the applicant said would provide about 400–407 parking spaces, and the dedication of about 1.77 acres of parkland at the corner of Saratoga and Prune Ridge Avenue. The applicant is seeking a general plan amendment, rezoning, architectural review, a vesting tentative subdivision map and an amendment to an existing scenic easement, and will submit materials for a full EIR under the California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA).

Why it matters: the site is in an established residential neighborhood and includes the city’s only golf course; the project would change land use, alter tree cover, and add hundreds of dwelling units — issues that residents and the city staff said will be evaluated in the EIR and in subsequent planning hearings.

Project and approvals described - Applicant team: representatives identified themselves as members of the family that owns the golf course and as the project design and development team (presenters included Sean Morley and Charlie Denman/Denman family; the transcript also names Mitch McKenzie and Kathy Demond). The CEQA consultant on the project is Patrick Hallis of David J. Powers & Associates; Anna George identified herself as the principal on the project. City planner…