LAKE VIEW TERRACE : Equestrian Center Operator Files Suit

Ex-jockey Eddie J. Milligan has filed a lawsuit to force the Los Angeles city parks department to sign a 30-year contract giving him the right to continue operating the Hansen Dam Equestrian Center, a facility he has run on a month-to-month basis since December, 1989.

The suit filed Friday also seeks $6 million in lost revenue and repayment for capital improvements Milligan made to the 50-acre property in Lake View Terrace. The center boards 170 horses on flood plain territory owned by the U. S. Army Corps of Engineers. The Army Corps leases the land to the city Department of Recreation and Parks.

Milligan won a bid to redevelop the decrepit, vacant property in 1989, and has since landscaped and partially paved the area, and built paddocks, riding arenas, grooming stalls and barns. The initial agreement stated that if Milligan improved the property and complied with city regulations, the parks department would award him a long-term contract.

But a series of disputes among Milligan, the Army Corps and the city over environmental issues and the right of Milligan, his wife, daughter and several caretakers to reside on the property, delayed finalization of a deal.

“It has taken 5 1/2 years for something that should have taken two months. That’s ridiculous,” Milligan said.

Parks Commission President Steven L. Soboroff said he was surprised by the lawsuit. “It seemed the department was making a lot of progress on the last few remaining issues,” Soboroff said.

Parks Commissioner Leroy Chase said he has worked closely with Milligan to try to clear the way for a final agreement. “Eddie has done a great job over there, it’s a beautiful facility,” Chase said. “We’re down to just one or two things we have to get resolved. We hope to have a contract with him soon. I wish I could talk him out of this.”

Chase and Soboroff said one remaining hurdle is the question of how many people will be authorized to live at the center. Normally, no one is allowed to reside on flood-control land owned by the Army Corps, according to federal officials.

“Look, the party’s over,” Milligan said. “Delay, delay, delay. They’re beating me into the ground. I just can’t afford to run the place any longer.”