Many Irvine residents may not realize that the Oak Creek Golf Course land is not simply ordinary private property. While the land is privately owned, it is subject to long-standing legal protections created through Initiative Resolution 88-1, which Irvine voters approved in 1988 to protect open space throughout the city.
Those protections were implemented through the Conservation/Open Space Dedication Program (COSDP) and related agreements between the City of Irvine and The Irvine Company. Under that framework, specific areas of land were designated for permanent preservation, with development rights allowed elsewhere in exchange for the dedication of open space.
The Oak Creek Land Was Intended to Be Protected Open Space…