Homeowners’ Opposition Kills Plan : Sepulveda Basin’s Polo Prospects Fade

Plans to build polo fields in the Sepulveda Basin have been all but abandoned after the project’s chief cheerleaders at the city’s Department of Recreation and Parks decided the fields were not such a good idea after all.

On Friday, department officials will ask the Board of Recreation and Parks Commissioners to officially kill the controversial project.

Just a few months ago, the city was high on polo, soliciting bids from polo enthusiasts across the country. Through polo, the city saw a way to increase the recreational opportunities of many park users without spending any city money.

Under the city’s requirements, the private investors chosen to build the fields at their own expense would have had to share the 50-acre site with picnickers and those who play soccer, softball, rugby and other sports.

But after local residents opposed the polo fields, the city decided more athletic fields were not needed, said Joel Breitbart, the city’s assistant general manager of planning and development.

“We came to the conclusion that--at least at this time--there is no strong need for additional sports fields,” Breitbart said. “We’ve decided to defer this project for some future time when that need is more demonstrable.”

Wrath of Residents

Breitbart said he investigated whether more fields were necessary after attending a community meeting in June at which angry residents urged the city to scuttle the proposal.

Besides questioning a need for the fields, homeowners argued at the meeting that the basin’s green space should be left undisturbed.

Homeowner activists, who generally oppose many recreational plans for the basin, cheered the department’s change of heart.

“I think parks and rec is beginning to realize on this issue there wasn’t a lot of wisdom,” said Gerald Silver, president of the Homeowners of Encino.

City Councilwoman Joy Picus, scheduled to testify at Friday’s commission meeting, also welcomed the about-face.

Polo fields “really cater to an elite group,” she said, “when you want your public parks open to all people.”

It was the polo enthusiasts who first suggested the partnership with the city. In Los Angeles County, only one outdoor polo field remains. And, although more are needed, the real estate costs for just one field--which equals the space needed for nine football fields--could amount to $25 million to $50 million.

The city received two formal proposals. One came from a polo club from Illinois, and the other from Joel Ladin--a Century City lawyer who runs the polo club at Will Rogers State Historic Park--and real estate developer Leonard Jaffe.

Ladin lamented that only people who oppose projects in the basin, rather than those who would benefit, voice their opinions.

Referring to the community meeting, Ladin said, “There were 40 people who were not enthralled with the project, but they aren’t enthralled with any project in the Sepulveda Basin.”

Differing Needs

Recreation officials said balancing the needs of the polo players and other park users proved difficult. It appeared that polo players and the other sports enthusiasts often would want to use the fields at the same time--on summer and springtime weekends.

And the proposed polo fields would not be convenient for softball and soccer players, the officials said, because the area would not be lighted for night play.

For now, the land, east of Woodley Avenue, south of Woodley Avenue Park, west of the Haskell Channel and north of Burbank Boulevard, will remain green. A sod company is leasing the property from its owner, the Army Corps of Engineers, which maintains the basin for flood control.