A group opposing a new golf course at City Park is asking a federal judge to stop construction at the 250-acre site between Harrison and Filmore avenues.

The City Park for Everyone Coalition, led by plaintiffs Kevin McDunn and Chris Lane, argues the City Park Improvement Association and Federal Emergency Management Agency, which is partially funding the golf course, failed to give the public enough chances to comment on the design for the $24.5 million championship course and golf complex and didn't consider all of the environmental impacts.

The lawsuit says the New Orleans City Park Improvement Association was determined to dedicate a huge chunk of land to golf -- "something that it admits is not particularly profitable in light of the large operating budget City Park has every year."

Among other claims, the lawsuit accuses City Park of failing to disclose that 5.5 acres of Couterie Forest nature area would be cleared out for the golf course when the park's board approved a master plan in 2011. A map in the master plan labeled the acreage as "natural resource area" rather than a golf course.

"This indication turned out to be false," the lawsuit says. "Activity currently occurring in the constructing zone is destroying and has destroyed a portion of Couturie Forest with heavy equipment."

In an interview, Bob Becker, City Park CEO, said the area in question is not part of Couterie Forest. He said 109 trees were removed, half of which were either invasive Chinese tallow trees that horticulturalists recommended removing or trees that were already dead.

Becker said the fact that some healthy trees were cut down should be considered in the context of the park's larger tree plantings. About 6,000 trees have been planted since Hurricane Katrina, he said, at a rate of 500 per year, a program that's ongoing.

In a May 2013 environmental assessment, FEMA examined plans for the 18-hole course to be built on pre-Katrina golf territory plus 5.5 acres of additional land. The designs included fairways, greens, lagoons, lakes, bridges, irrigation and a new pump station. FEMA found the project would have "no significant impact" on the environment.

But in the lawsuit, the plaintiffs contend "FEMA failed to consider the environmental impact of destroying 5.5 acres of wetlands and urban forest."

The lawsuit also takes issue with how City Park gathered public feedback on its plans. Public hearings on the plans were held in 2005, 2007, 2009 and 2011, according to FEMA's assessment.

The opponents argue in the lawsuit that because City Park considered different plans through the years, the public wasn't given enough opportunity to comment on the design the park ultimately chose for construction.

Becker disagreed with the notion that the public didn't have a say-so. He said the park actually reduced the amount of golf to be brought back after Katrina based on public feedback. Plans to restore golf on a portion of the East course were scrapped, and the area is still undeveloped.

City Park's formal response in court is due May 26.

In a statement released in March, City Park officials said the golf complex has been in the works for more than a decade, through several rounds of public discussion and amendments. "The Corps of Engineers and the State issued all the necessary permits and authorizations to move forward with the project," the statement said. "We believe the suit is without merit and will be aggressively defended."

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