L.A. Asks for More Details on 2 Proposals for Polo Facility

After reviewing two proposals to develop polo fields in Sepulveda Basin, the Los Angeles Recreation and Parks Department this week returned both for clarification of how much time the polo grounds would be available for other types of recreation.

Although more than a dozen people had expressed interest in developing 50 acres north of Burbank Boulevard and east of Woodley Avenue for athletics in exchange for a 20-year lease to operate outdoor polo there, only two groups submitted proposals, said Joel Breitbart, the department’s assistant general manager of planning and development.

The city asked developers to operate and maintain a “joint athletic/polo field program” and to make the polo fields available to the public for the maximum time possible, Breitbart said.

Additional Facilities

In one of the proposals, an Illinois firm called Oak Brook, said it would develop four football / soccer fields, one baseball diamond and two Little League fields in addition to two polo fields, Breitbart said.

In the other, Century City lawyer Joel Ladin, who runs the polo club at Will Rogers State Historic Park, and real estate developer Leonard Jaffee said they would develop three polo fields that would be used for other activities, Breitbart said. They estimated that the space would be open for other recreation about 50% of the time during the polo season, from mid-March to mid-November, and 100% of the time during the other six months.

Annual Guarantee to City

The Ladin-Jaffee partnership also wanted to build a clubhouse and a temporary stable east of the Donald C. Tillman Water Reclamation Plant, where up to 325 horses would be boarded during the polo season, Breitbart said.

Both groups would build decomposed granite parking and would guarantee the city a percentage of receipts from sales of tickets, food and club memberships, with an annual guarantee of $12,000, Breitbart said .

The two applicants presented their proposals at a meeting Tuesday night for Valley residents and representatives of homeowner and environmental organizations.

About 15 people spoke, all but one objecting to any plan to develop the land.

Development of Sepulveda Basin for athletics has long been planned but has been delayed for lack of funds, Breitbart said.

The Recreation and Park Commission has expressed interest in allowing some of the land to be used for polo, an up-and-coming sport of the wealthy, as a means to transfer the estimated $1 million landscaping project to private developers.

Breitbart said his concern was that neither proposal made a clear projection of how much time the public would be guaranteed access to the polo fields for other activities.

To clarify that question, recreation officials met with the principals of both groups Wednesday.

Unable to get a satisfactory answer, Breitbart decided to submit written questions to both applicants.

“I’m not satisfied that we have that as clear as we would like,” Breitbart said. “I want them to commit that to writing.”

Breitbart said he hoped to make a recommendation to the Recreation and Parks Commission within 45 days.