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Irvine City Council allows Oak Creek Golf Course zoning change

April 16, 2026

A zoning change approved this week for the Oak Creek Golf Course will let the Irvine Company flesh out its plans for a nature park and residential development.

More than a hundred community members packed the City Council chambers to voice their concerns, and between their public comments and the council’s deliberation, nearly five hours of Tuesday’s meeting, April 14, was spent on discussing the zoning change request.

The crux of residents’ argument with the proposal being the zoning change would flout a 1988 voter-approved initiative that designated the golf course, and several other undeveloped areas in the city, as open space.

The Irvine Co. is soliciting ideas from residents for its proposed park and some plans include meadows, woodlands, bridges, gardens and a nature center. The zoning change would enable a “50-acre nature park, passive park improvements, connectivity to the Jeffrey Open Space Trail, pedestrian and landscape features along Irvine Center Drive, grade-separated crossings over existing infrastructure, and dedication of 312 acres of open space land” in Orchard Hills and Portola Springs, a city staff report to councilmembers said.

The rest of the privately owned, 162-acre golf course would support a housing component; the number of units is yet to be determined, Irvine Co. officials have said, but plans would call for less housing than the 3,100-home village the company proposed to the City Council last year.

The zoning amendment the council approved this week does not impede the 1988 voter initiative, calling for “no residential, no industrial (development),” City Attorney Jeffrey Melching said, adding “the land use designations don’t change, the allowable uses don’t change.”

Several councilmembers expressed support for the park idea, but were cautious about approving a residential development, with some asking for more dedicated affordable housing.

“I want to see more from (the Irvine Co.), community outreach,” Councilmember Betty Martinez Franco said. “While I understand tonight’s item does not approve any specific development, my future support will depend on the deep level of engagement with my community.”

Before the Irvine Company’s final development proposal for Oak Creek Golf Course reaches the dais, an environmental impact report must be conducted, which city staffers anticipate taking “a year or more.” City staffers also said they intended to carry out a traffic study.

Orange County Register

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Irvine City Council allows Oak Creek Golf Course zoning change

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