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Residents press council to invest in Shannon Hills Golf Course; public voices homelessness and code‑enforcement concerns
Summary
Multiple speakers urged the city to repair and maintain Shannon Hills Golf Course, citing declining turf quality, unusable greens and lost community and youth programming. Public commenters also pressed the council on homelessness, code enforcement, animal services and the Oxbow crush‑and‑grind dispute.
A cluster of public speakers at the Nov. 5 San Bernardino council meeting urged the city to invest in Shannon Hills Golf Course and to address broader quality‑of‑life issues including homelessness, code enforcement and animal‑services performance.
Speakers from local neighborhood groups, the school district's 61 Golf program, the Garcia Center for the Arts and the Blair Park Neighborhood Association described Shannon Hills as a community asset used for school physical‑education, after‑school programs and tournaments. They reported deteriorating maintenance: hard, compacted tee and bunker surfaces, weeds and holes on greens, malfunctioning irrigation and restrooms that are often overflowing.
"When we moved here, Shannon Hills was beautiful; now it is a shadow of itself," said Dorothy Bernhardt, a resident who described the course as in disrepair and said visiting teams see a substandard facility. Multiple youth speakers and 61 Golf volunteers said the course provides critical recreation and social capital for students, and they asked the city to prioritize maintenance to preserve tournament play and youth programs.
Other public commenters used the open‑comment period to call for stepped‑up code enforcement, better responses to homeless encampments, a review of animal‑services policies, and accountability related to the Oxbow "crush and grind" decision and adjacent development. One business owner urged enforcement against existing liquor license holders whose properties are poorly maintained; others described volunteer cleanup efforts led by local organizations and the city.
Councilmembers and staff acknowledged the comments and several asked staff to bring follow‑up briefings, including a request for Parks staff to provide an update on Shannon Hills and for code enforcement to show how they handle financially or physically constrained homeowners. The comments reflect a continuing constituency focus on neighborhood maintenance, youth services and homelessness responses.
