Mountain Lions Stall New Housing at Woodland Hills Country Club
The developer says it will sue the city to enforce state housing law.
August 25, 2026 · Woodland Hills
A plan to build nearly 400 homes on the Woodland Hills Country Club golf course has hit a major snag: mountain lions.
The [L.A. Times is reporting](https://www.latimes.com/california/story/2026-08-22/mountain-lions-stall-stall-woodland-hills-golf-course-housing-project) the city's Planning Department has determined the 93-acre course qualifies as habitat for the endangered big cats. The finding strips the developer of its ability to fast-track the project under a state housing law, and forces it through the city's conventional approval process instead.
Newport Beach-based Arrimus Capital filed plans last November for 398 residences on about 20 acres of the course, including 175 three-story single-family homes and two four-story apartment buildings with 223 rental units, 34 of them rent-restricted. The developer sought expedited approval under AB 2011, a 2023 state law that allows ministerial sign-off on certain multifamily projects, bypassing the usual environmental review and public hearings.
The habitat finding, backed by documentation from the Santa Monica Mountains Conservancy and biologists, was pushed by Councilman Bob Blumenfield, who represents Woodland Hills. Blumenfield told the Times that "determining that the project is proposed on endangered species habitat was enough" to force a full review. The site also sits in a "very high" fire hazard zone, a few miles from both the Palisades and Woolsey burn scars.
On Friday, the City Council voted 11-1 to have city attorneys and planning staff draft an ordinance amending the A-1 zoning that covers the course, and to prepare an interim control ordinance halting demolition, grading and building permits on similar hillside parcels near fire zones, according to [MyNewsLA](https://mynewsla.com/government/2026/08/21/woodland-hills-country-club-faces-la-council-roadblock-to-build-400-homes/). Councilwoman Nithya Raman cast the lone no vote.
Arrimus isn't backing down. "Golfing mountain lions may take the prize" for creative excuses to block housing, Arrimus's Aaron Green told the Times. "The city has left us with no choice but to file a lawsuit to enforce the law."
If the developer prevails in court, the city could be on the hook for millions in fines.
The course dates to the mid-1920s and became a private club in 1945. Neighbors beat back a previous attempt to convert it to luxury homes in 1988.