Following a contentious city council meeting, the San Diego city council voted 6-2 Monday to terminate the grant deed use restrictions at Polo Fields park near Del Mar.
Dozens of residents spoke out against the expansion of the use of the fields at Surf Sports Park in recent years, citing crowds and dangerous traffic around the site at Via de La Valle and El Camino Real.
“I’m confident that with today's action... the city will assert its rightful role of managing and enforcing the uses of the property and accrue every penny of revenue,” said Council President Joe LaCava during the meeting.
The property falls in his district.
“No longer will the city struggle in responding to every constituent's complaint but not have the tools to do anything,” LaCava said.
Monday’s council vote was connected to a 1983 grant deed for the property. It turned the Polo Fields over to the city of San Diego with some conditions — which were the center of the debate.
Surf Cup Sports has leased the land from the City of San Diego since 2016 to host large scale soccer tournaments and other events, at what is now referred to as Surf Sports Park.
The Surf Sports website said they have just under half a million attendees each year.
“Our opinion is very clear. The economic benefit and the benefit to the youth outweigh those things that may be in the opposition's favor,” said Surf Sports COO Brian Enge last Friday outside city hall.
The opposition included the Fairbanks Polo Club Homeowner’s Association, which filed a lawsuit two years ago, alleging the park is being used improperly.
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The suit says the grant deed only allows the site to be used for “non-commercial recreational uses” with up to 25 days of events a year. The suit claims Surf Sports is not following those conditions.
But that lawsuit has been temporarily paused as the San Diego city council weighed in on whether or not to terminate the grant deed restrictions.
“The original deed restrictions are vague. It's hard to navigate and enforce things that are vague. But the city as an organization has let the problem fester for nine years,” said councilmember Raul Campillo in chambers ahead of the vote.
“We didn't clear up ambiguities when they were first observed years ago. And now here we are facing the resolution of one lawsuit in court if we potentially vote no, and the threat of several more if we vote yes,” he said.
The termination of the restrictions was a move opposed by more than just the homeowners association.
Jeff Carmel, a member of the Coalition to Preserve the Polo Fields Neighborhood, has lived next to the fields for decades and spoke to KPBS a few days ahead of the vote.
“In the last seven or eight years the use has just so intensified,” he said.
Carmel said multiple local entities wrote letters opposing the termination of the grant deed restrictions. Among those opposed are environmental groups, the cities of Solana Beach and Del Mar and state senator Catherine Blakespear.
“Keeping it to 25 days. And that's all we want,” Carmel said. “Stick to the contract you agreed to. Don't change the rules in the middle of the game to suit your business plan with the city going right along with it.”
Enge said they collected over 1,500 letters from community members to support terminating the grant deed restrictions.
“The city proposal provides clear and enforceable parameters for how the property can be used while allowing Surf to continue to operate its youth sports program as it has for many years,” he said last Friday.
The city's lease with Surf Cup Sports lasts through 2044.
As part of the approved item, the city council also amended the lease to allow for large events up to 40 days a year.
Another lawsuit regarding usage rights to the fields is also moving through the courts.
