Tennis Ranch Loses Permit After Complaints

A tennis ranch in the Santa Monica Mountains lost its operating permit Wednesday after angry neighbors told the Los Angeles County Regional Planning Commission that there was more motorcycle riding than tennis playing taking place on the property.

The Malibu Mountains Racquet Club, first licensed in the early 1970s, was taken over 14 years ago by Joseph Teresi, publisher of magazines for motorcycle and hot rod enthusiasts. The club is in Latigo Canyon, not far from Mulholland Highway and Kanan Dume Road.

Planning Commissioner Richard Wulliger, who made the motion to revoke Teresi’s conditional use permit, said he became convinced that the establishment was “more of a motorcycle ranch than a tennis ranch” when he learned that the restaurant there was named “Le Cafe Bubba.”

“With all due respect,” Wulliger said, “I don’t know of any tennis players named Bubba.”

Teresi countered that motorcycles are merely the “choice of transportation” for about a third of the 300 club members, most of whom he said learn about the club’s existence through his publications: Easy Riders and American Rodder. Club members still play tennis, Teresi said, as well as swim in the swimming pool, which was part of the original permit.

But neighbors said the site has become a gathering place for dozens--sometimes hundreds--of motorcycle riders on weekends, many of whom they said have removed their bikes’ mufflers, causing them to make more noise. The neighbors told stories of drug arrests and lewd behavior in the area, which they blamed on the club.

The tennis courts are rarely used, they said, and the property is sometimes leased to nearby Calamigos Ranch for overflow parking during large corporate picnics, concerts and other events.

Carl Shroeter, who lives near the club on Mulholland Highway, said at least 400 motorcycles were parked on Teresi’s property during an event last spring. While the ranch’s original application for a conditional use permit mentioned “tennis instruction in a ranchlike setting,” Shroeter said it should now be amended to state, “hot-rods and Harleys welcome.”

After voting unanimously to revoke the permit--instead of granting Teresi permission he sought to remove two oak trees to expand the site--commissioners said he should apply for a new permit for a motorcycle club.

But Teresi’s attorney, Tamar C. Stein, said he would instead appeal the revocation to the County Board of Supervisors.

“I think this was a total miscarriage of justice, based on stereotypes of people who ride motorcycles,” Stein said.