ESPN Golf

SAN FRANCISCO -- The developer of a high-profile Pebble Beach golf project backed by actor Clint Eastwood withdrew its proposal Tuesday, a day before a state agency was scheduled to vote on the plan.

The California Coastal Commission had been set to vote Wednesday on plans submitted by Pebble Beach Co. for an 18-hole golf course, a driving range, an equestrian center, 160 new hotel rooms, housing, a conference center and underground parking in Monterey County.

But the county's Board of Supervisors, which had submitted the proposal to the Coastal Commission, voted Tuesday to withdraw it after the company said it wanted to revise the plan to address environmental concerns raised by the agency, which makes final decisions on development on California's coastline.

Commission biologists said in a report earlier this month that the proposed golf course would destroy rare pine trees and hurt an endangered orchid species in the Del Monte Forest. The report recommended that the commissioners vote against amendments to Monterey County's coastal plan that would allow the development.

"We decided to withdraw it, get it redefined and resubmit," said Alan Williams, president of Carmel Development Co., which is managing the project for Pebble Beach Co.

To lessen the project's environmental impact, Pebble Beach Co. previously offered to move trees, redesign a driving range, conserve 500 acres of additional land and move an equestrian center away from a protected area, Williams said.

But those changes were never incorporated into the proposal set to go before the Coastal Commission. The company wanted to include the changes in a revised proposal before resubmitting it, Williams said.

The proposed course would join four other Pebble Beach Co. golf courses in a part of California's Central Coast ranked among the country's best places to golf.

Eastwood, along with legendary golfer Arnold Palmer and former Major League Baseball Commissioner Peter Ueberroth, are co-owners of Pebble Beach Co.

Peter Douglas, the Coastal Commission's executive director said the commission would not vote on the project at Wednesday's meeting.

"If this signals that they're going to go back and redesign it and address our concerns, that's a good thing," Douglas said.

The project has been the focus of controversy since 2000, when Monterey County voters approved a ballot measure to rezone 600 acres to allow for the development. During the campaign, Eastwood appeared in television commercials backing the measure.

According to the Coastal Commission staff report, the golf course would result in the loss of 63 acres of native Monterey pine forest, or 10,000 individual trees. Native Monterey pine is found in only five locations worldwide, including three on the California coast.

The Sierra Club and other environmental organizations have long opposed the project.

"The science and law are clear on this thing," said Mark Massara, the Sierra Club's director of coastal programs. "They cannot cut down this forest for golf and mansions."

The Coastal Commission itself came under scrutiny last week after Assembly Speaker Fabian Nunez appointed four people as alternates to the panel, leading to allegations that Nunez was trying to influence the vote.

The Sierra Club and two coastal commissioners said the Los Angeles Democrat had no authority to make the appointments. The commission told at least one of the appointees that she should not show up to vote because her appointment was made in violation of state law.

A Nunez spokesman denied the speaker was trying to influence the vote, saying that he made the appointments to add diversity to the commission.

The political infighting surrounding the vote, as well as conflicting opinions over the project's impact, made the company's decision to withdraw the proposal "a smart thing to do," said Dave Potter, a Monterey County supervisor and California coastal commissioner who voted to support the company's withdrawal request.

Copyright 2006 by The Associated Press