LA Planning Commission approves Harvard-Westlake’s plan to redevelop golf course in Studio City

The Los Angeles City Planning Commission on Thursday, Aug. 24, approved Harvard-Westlake School’s application to convert the Weddington Golf & Tennis club – a longtime fixture in the San Fernando Valley – into an athletic and recreational facility for use by its students and greater community, despite continued objections by nearby residents who believe the project will have negative environmental, noise and traffic impacts.

The commission’s decision to grant a conditional use permit to the school is final, though the decision can be appealed to the City Council, according to the city’s planning department.

Rick Commons, president of Harvard-Westlake School, in a statement following the planning commission’s vote, described ways he believes the project would benefit not just the school, but the community at large.

“At River Park, all of the facilities will be built to the highest standards of accessibility, for athletes and non-athletes alike,” Commons stated. “That’s being inclusive, and it is just one of the many ways in which we will strive to fulfill the school’s mission of purpose beyond ourselves.”

Harvard-Westlake is a private college preparatory school in Studio City which in 2017 purchased the Weddington Golf & Tennis property, about a mile from one of its campuses.

The school wants to redevelop 17.2 acres made up of the Weddington property plus about one more acre along the Los Angeles River.

They would remove the longtime golf course, driving range and tennis facility and replace them with two athletic fields and bleacher seating; a two-story, 80,000-plus square-foot multipurpose gymnasium; a 52-meter swimming pool with seating; and eight tennis courts with seating. Some existing features would be kept, including the clubhouse, putting green and cafe.

Several acres would be designated open space for public use from 7 a.m. to 9 p.m. daily, and landscaped pathways would connect the property to the adjacent Zev Yaroslavsky L.A. River Greenway Trail.

Proponents said the plan would give more Angelenos access to green space. And advocates of athletes with disabilities, including from Angel City Sports, which uses the school’s current facilities, said they looked forward to more opportunities for adaptive sports once the project is complete.

But critics say the project is too massive in a residential neighborhood and cited concerns with pollution and increased traffic and noise, both during and after construction, including the need to excavate the land to build underground parking.

Nearby residents said that besides the loss of their beloved golf course, they’re worried about noise from cheering spectators at sporting competitions and the use of artificial turf, citing concerns over the chemicals in astroturf.

Some critics lamented plans to cut down 240 trees as part of the project. Although those trees would be replaced with 393 native trees, critics of the project say it will take years for new trees to mature and provide the same level of shade as the mature trees that would be destroyed.

“The quality of life of this community is a public asset and it is not for sale. Quality of life is not something that can be traded out,” said Tess Taylor, president of the Greater Toluca Lake Neighborhood Council who was speaking for herself. “The residents of this area, Studio City, will get left holding the bag of multiple, cumulative, massive and negative permanent impacts from this project.”

Meanwhile, supporters of the project said the Harvard-Westlake proposal is far better than if a developer owned the site and decided to build condominiums. They cited environmental benefits, including plans to install a 350,000-gallon stormwater capture system, and said that switching from grass to artificial turf would save millions of gallons of water each year.

Following several hours of public comments, the planning commission voted to approve the project. The president and vice president of the commission, Samantha Millman and Caroline Choe, are alumni of Harvard-Westlake School.

Despite calls for them to recuse themselves from voting, both said at the start of Thursday’s meeting that they could render an impartial decision based on the merits of the application. They both ultimately voted for the project.

Choe said she appreciated that the project was designed in a way to integrate with the L.A. River and the “inclusive nature” of the project, as well as its use of native plants and trees.

Editor’s note: This story has been updated to say that the planning commission’s decision is final, although it can be appealed.