San Mateo County zoning hearing officer approves Olympic Club grading permit, tree removals

SAN MATEO COUNTY — The San Mateo County zoning hearing officer approved a grading permit and resource management permit on Dec. 18 for the Olympic Club’s Ocean Golf Course, allowing 45,555 cubic yards of grading and the removal of 11 trees as part of a course restoration and practice-facility project at 599 Skyline Boulevard.

Planner Luis Opete told the hearing that the project would restore and repair the golf course and driving-range practice facility and add a new landscape irrigation system, drainage improvements and maintenance of greens, tees and sand bunkers. Opete said no new structures are proposed and that the California Coastal Commission issued a coastal development permit waiver for the work, effective Sept. 12, 2025. The project site spans roughly 109 acres in San Mateo County and about 13.3 acres within the City and County of San Francisco.

The staff report said the grading totals 45,555 cubic yards (13,604 cubic yards of cut and 31,951 cubic yards of fill). Opete said staff concluded the proposal complies with applicable general-plan policies and that the project is exempt from environmental review under CEQA Guidelines §15304 (Class 4, minor public or private alterations to land).

The permit package includes the removal of 11 trees. Opete said four of those trees require a resource management permit because they exceed 17.5 inches in diameter at standard height; four additional trees do not require a tree-removal permit due to size or location; and three trees are subject to the county’s significant-tree ordinance and are being evaluated as part of the overall approval.

One written comment came from a neighboring property owner who expressed safety concerns about two large trees along the Olympic Club property line behind 48 and 56 Northgate Avenue, saying they appeared to be leaning toward homes and utility lines. Planner Opete reported that the trees cited in that letter were not among the 11 trees proposed for removal.

Troy Flanagan, the Olympic Club’s director of golf maintenance, responded at the hearing. "I went and looked at the trees... they are outside of the construction area," Flanagan said, and added he would have an arborist evaluate the trees. "I don't see the lean that Mr. Lamb's talking about," he said, while noting the club uses arborists for tree assessments and that some perimeter trees date to the 1930s and 1940s.

After the presentation and public comment, the presiding officer stated the applicant had accepted the conditions of approval and announced approval of the grading permit and resource management permit (County file PLN2025-00123) "by adopting the required findings and conditions of approval listed in Attachment A." The officer said the decision may be appealed by Jan. 5, 2026; the appeal fee was announced as $1,962.

The zoning hearing officer also noted that no new land uses or structures are proposed and that staff had found the project consistent with the Resource Management District’s development-review criteria. The meeting adjourned; staff said the next hearing is scheduled for Jan. 15, 2026.