You can still book a tee time at Westridge Golf Club this fall. The club's website takes reservations online, and nothing on its home page or tee-time page says the course is closing. The fairways sit at 1400 South La Habra Hills Drive, on roughly 151 acres where Lennar Homes has proposed 534 homes. Some summaries treat that plan as already decided.
The public record says otherwise. Westridge Hills has not moved past the first step of environmental review, which happened two years ago. The reason comes down to a three-month window in early 2023 that the City and the builder read differently, and no court has settled it yet.
If you're comparing La Habra with Brea, Fullerton or Whittier, here is what is actually decided about the hillside and what isn't.
The Application Came In Three Months Before State Certification
The builder's remedy is the name for a provision in California Government Code Section 65589.5(d), which the City cites in its 2024 consultant document on the project. It limits a city's power to deny certain housing projects when the city does not have a compliant housing element. The disagreement over Westridge Hills is about timing. The company submitted what it called an SB 330 preliminary application on January 19, 2023. The State Department of Housing and Community Development, HCD, certified La Habra's housing element on April 21, 2023.
The City dates its compliance earlier. The City Council adopted the element on September 19, 2022, by Resolution No. 6085, and found it substantially compliant with state law at that time. The City also notes that every site it needed to meet its regional housing target already fit within existing zoning, and the golf course was not one of those sites. In a 2024 request for proposals to hire environmental consultants, the City put its position on the record:
"The City's decision that the application for the Proposed Project is complete under Government Code Section 65943 is not in any way a concession or agreement that the 'Builder's Remedy' applies to this application."
The same document says the project conflicts with the site's Open Space designation in the General Plan and with Planning Area E of the La Habra Hills Specific Plan. Planning Area E allows golf courses, driving ranges, parks, recreation facilities and oil production, but not subdivisions. The City adds that Lennar "has repeatedly declined to apply for any legislative changes" because of how it reads the builder's remedy.
Getting those legislative changes would also run into Measure X. La Habra voters approved it with 75% in November 2020, and it requires a public vote to rezone open-space land, the Orange County Register reported. That leaves the builder's remedy as the route Lennar has chosen, and the City's records show the two sides disagree about whether it applies to an application filed between the City's 2022 adoption and the state's 2023 certification.
The Courts Have Answered Nearby Questions, but Not This One
Three appellate opinions have come down since this dispute began. None of them settles it.
The first involves La Habra directly. Californians for Homeownership, a nonprofit, challenged the February 2023 revision of the housing element. It argued that the City Manager, not the City Council, approved those changes, and that no new hearings were held. The Superior Court denied the petition. The California Court of Appeal, Fourth District, Division Three, affirmed in an opinion filed December 18, 2025 and certified for publication January 16, 2026. The court held that the February changes were part of the ongoing certification process, found the Council's delegation to the City Manager valid, and upheld the presumption of validity that follows state certification. That ruling makes La Habra's housing element much harder to attack. It says nothing about whether Westridge Hills qualifies for the builder's remedy.
The other two came out of Redondo Beach, in New Commune DTLA LLC v. City of Redondo Beach. The October 2025 opinion expressly declined to decide whether a city may adopt its housing element before HCD finds it substantially compliant. The July 30, 2026 opinion assumed the builder's remedy applied and upheld the city's denial on Coastal Act grounds. It also left open whether a self-adopted element counts before certification.
La Habra's three-month window sits in exactly that open space.
Older Lawsuits Are Still on the City's Calendar
The hillside already went through one round of litigation. In 2020, Lennar's earlier version, Rancho La Habra, proposed 448 homes on the same land. The City Council denied it on November 2, 2020. In January 2021, Lennar sued to overturn the denial and invalidate Measure X, and claimed more than $100 million in losses, according to the Orange County Register. In an August 2023 City press release, La Habra said Judge Sheila Recio had rejected the challenges to both the denial and Measure X.
That ruling did not end the cases. As recently as the City Council's April 6, 2026 closed-session agenda, both 2021 suits by Lennar Homes of California were still listed as pending litigation.
The Council Turned Down Fast-Track Processing
Lennar asked to speed up review. On November 3, 2025, the City Council considered a project processing and reimbursement agreement for "expedited processing" of Westridge Hills. One council member recused, another was absent, and six members of the public spoke against it. The motion failed 1–2. Opposition goes back to the earlier plan. In October 2020 the Orange County Register reported that residents organized as Save La Habra opposed the Rancho La Habra plan over traffic and overcrowding, and that the group had introduced Measure X.
Here is how the paperwork lines up as of October 2026:
- January 19, 2023. Lennar submits its SB 330 preliminary application.
- April 21, 2023. HCD certifies La Habra's housing element.
- January 29, 2024. The City deems the application complete.
- October 24 to November 25, 2024. The Notice of Preparation for a Draft EIR is open for public review, with a scoping meeting on November 7, 2024.
- November 3, 2025. The Council rejects the expedited processing agreement.
- April 6, 2026. The 2021 Lennar suits are still listed as pending in closed session.
The state's CEQAnet record, SCH 2024101106, still lists that 2024 notice as its main document. It shows no Draft EIR, and its only comment period is the one for the notice, which closed November 25, 2024. The Draft EIR still has to be written and circulated, a Final EIR certified, and hearings held, and any of those steps could bring the timing question back up.
What the Hillside Would Gain or Lose
Comparing the two proposals shows why the timing question matters to anyone buying near the course. In 2020, Lennar needed the Council's approval and offered public benefits to get it. The current filing depends on the builder's remedy, and its amenities are mostly private.
| Rancho La Habra, 2020 | Westridge Hills, current filing | |
|---|---|---|
| Homes | 448 | 534, including 282 single-family, 80 townhomes, 62 duplexes, 110 affordable apartments |
| Community space | Clubhouse converted to a community center | Private community center for project residents |
| Park and trails | 16-acre park, 4.2-mile trail system | Not listed |
| Open space | About 80 acres | 48.55 acres of open space and detention basins, plus 13.70 acres of habitat conservation |
| Payments to the City | $1.5 million for City use, $1 million to the affordable-housing fund | Not listed |
The 2020 figures come from OC Independent, which valued the package at about $40 million. The current figures come from the City's Notice of Preparation. The City's 2024 consultant document listed a slightly different unit mix, 286 single-family homes, 78 townhomes and 60 duplexes, with the same 534 total.
Why the Wait Matters in a Tight County Market
Orange County supply is thin, which makes one large project significant. In August 2026, the California Association of REALTORS reported a countywide median single-family sold price of $1,452,500, up 4.9% from August 2025. Sales were down 3.4% year over year, the county had 3.1 months of unsold inventory, and the median time on market was 27 days. Orange County REALTORS counted 1,118 existing single-family sales countywide that month, closing at 99.6% of list price.
On that scale, the 282 single-family homes planned at Westridge would equal about a quarter of a month's single-family closings across the whole county, all in one La Habra subdivision. Supply that large on a hillside now zoned for golf is the kind of change a buyer would want to know about. None of it can arrive until the Draft EIR exists and the eligibility question is resolved. Financing costs add pressure on any wait. Freddie Mac's 30-year fixed average was 7.40% as of October 15, 2026.
For a buyer, the practical result is uncertainty in both directions. A home near the course today borders land designated Open Space and protected by Measure X. That could stay true for years, or the land could become a large subdivision if the builder's remedy is found to apply. The project's status changes through public documents, so you can follow it without guessing.
Quick Answers
Is Westridge Golf Club closing? The club was still taking online tee-time bookings in fall 2026, and its website shows no closure announcement.
Has Westridge Hills been approved? No. The state's CEQAnet record shows only the 2024 Notice of Preparation. No Draft EIR or hearing date has been posted.
Where can I check the status myself? Two places: the CEQAnet entry for SCH 2024101106 and the La Habra City Council agenda center. A Draft EIR would appear on the first, and hearings or closed-session litigation items on the second.
This post reports on public records and court opinions as general information. It is not legal advice, so if a pending land-use decision could affect a purchase or sale, please confirm the details with a qualified attorney.
We'll keep watching the Westridge Hills file as it moves, or if it stays where it is. If you own a home near the La Habra hills and want to know what it's worth while this is still undecided, Christine Kennedy and our team will walk you through it. Get a Free Home Valuation, and we'll include how nearby homes are selling while the golf course question remains open.
