The well-manicured soccer pitches and facilities of Surf Sports Park in Del Mar are surrounded by nature preserves and high-end homes.
The scene, in many ways, is picturesque — but there's trouble in paradise.
“Over the course of a year we’ll have 400,000 to 500,000 people coming to this place with traffic congestion, noise problems, pollution,” said local resident Larry Pollack.
He lives near the park, with a view that overlooks the fields.
Pollack said in the past the fields were an open, public space — but they don't feel like that anymore.
He said that issue has become particularly apparent since 2016, when Surf Sports took over operations of the site from the San Diego Polo Club.
“What they've done here is they've decided to make this almost like a west coast headquarters,” Pollack said.
Surf Sports has a 28-year lease with the City of San Diego, which owns the property.
“We've put about $5 million into the property to transition it from being a horse property into the premier youth sports facility in the country,” said Surf Sports COO Brian Enge.
The Surf Sports website said they host “more than 35 events in San Diego” each year, drawing people from all over the country. It also said they are “one of the largest and most successful event organizers in the city.”
But neighbors and some organizations are upset about the frequency, size and commercial nature of activities and events on the property.
They said it’s a violation of the lease and original grant deed for the land. The Fairbanks Polo Club Homeowners Association, which is located around the park, is suing the city over it.
While Pollack isn't part of that lawsuit, he agrees with what it stands for.
“I think the city of San Diego is as accountable — maybe even more — because they understand and have acknowledged what's in the lease. And they are allowing Surf Cup to violate that lease,” Pollack said.
The suit said the violation is hosting events too often, up to 200 days a year. It said the lease only allows 25 days of events per year.
KPBS asked Enge about that number. He didn’t have exact figures, but said Surf Sports let other groups use the park too, and talked about their overall positive impact.
“We create hotel rooms, jobs, economic impact, by bringing people into the city here,” Enge said. “We help kids chase their dreams. I have a hard time figuring out what's wrong with that.”
Pollack said he’s concerned the park has turned into a major sports and event venue, which falls outside of what the grant deed for the land allows — “non-commercial recreational uses not involving large assemblages of people or automobiles.”
Others in the community, like Friends of the San Dieguito River Valley President Maggie Brown, agree.
“It should be essentially used as a park,” she said.
Her organization unsuccessfully sued the city in 2016 over use of the fields.
Brown said there's sensitive wetland habitat all around the area.
“The wildlife corridors have all been cut off by the fencing that's there. The birds stay away from it. It really is very damaging to the environment,” Brown said about current operations at the park.
In the past couple of years, Surf Sports was previously cited for illegally redirecting stormwater and issued a civil penalty notice for unpermitted grading and filling.
Enge said the environmental concerns have been fixed, but Brown is concerned about further expansion efforts. That includes an adjacent property that is slated to become a youth sports complex.
“The things they have done there represent intensified commercial use, which is specifically not allowed by the grant deed on the land they're on,” Brown said.
Enge said the size and intensity of the events have not increased over time, and that they strive to comply with all aspects of their lease.
“We've had the same number of fields for many, many years. It's the same size of property. You can't fit more teams onto an event in the same time of daylight in the same type of fields,” Enge said.
Since 2022 some of the fields at Surf Sports Park are being used by the local women’s professional soccer team, San Diego Wave FC. The lawsuit said that has added to the problems of public access and commercial use on site.
Enge said the concerns about land use are coming from a “small, but vocal minority” who want “peace and quiet in their neighborhood.”
“We don’t start our events too early, we don't make them too late. We let them know when they’re having events. We want to be respectful, good neighbors,” Enge said.
The park is in San Diego Councilmember Joe LaCava’s district. We reached out to him, the Mayor’s Office, and the City Attorney's Office but they all said they could not comment on pending litigation.
However, the city attorney’s office did tell KPBS a trial date has been scheduled for March 14, 2025.
