Rancho Santa Fe donates $50,000 to support lawsuit

Sending a clear signal of growing regional concern about the negative effects of expanding and unchecked use of the former polo fields for sporting and other events, the Rancho Santa Fe Association, through its political action committee, last week donated $50,000 in support of the Fairbanks Polo Club Homeowners’ Association (FPCHA) lawsuit against the City of San Diego. The complaint targets the City for its failure to enforce clear land-use restrictions in the grant deed held by the FPCHA that run with the 114-acre parcel in the San Dieguito River Valley.

The Association’s donation was gratefully received by the plaintiffs and represents the latest of several significant contributions to the FPCHA legal fund in recent months. The ongoing show of financial support comes from individuals and communities affected by the potentially dangerous and unsustainable increase in traffic, noise, and environmental problems generated by events on the property leased from the City by Surf Cup Sports, a multimillion-dollar syndicate ostensibly promoting youth sports. In addition, a brush fire in Del Mar on a busy tournament day last June as well as recent devastating fires in Los Angeles, drove home the disturbing fact that no emergency evacuation plans exist at the City or County level that take into account the added impact of thousands of cars and people on any given day on the busiest routes in and out of the Ranch and surrounding communities.

With a late-year mediation attempt behind them, and thankful for the ongoing community and coalition support, the Fairbanks Polo Club Homeowners’ Association says it intends to “continue to prosecute the case vigorously and to take appropriate discovery to document what it contends is the City’s ongoing failure to enforce the grant deed’s restrictions on uses of the land.”

A GoFundMe campaign was launched last year to support the lawsuit. Click on the link to view the GoFundMe page and/or to donate.  

Bigger and nastier

An estimated 18,000 people descended on Surf Sports Park for a four-day soccer tournament July 19-22 that filled all 27 fields from dawn to dusk.

That number reflects 272 soccer teams comprising nearly 6,000 players and some 12,500 spectators – not including scouts and referees – most of whom were from other parts of the country.*

The arriving crowds and vehicles (coinciding with the first days of the Del Mar Racing season), generated the predictable noise, clouds of dust, gravel, and vehicle gridlock along sections of Via de la Valle that residents in surrounding communities now resign themselves to during such events in the absence of enforcement of frequency or size by the City of San Diego and total lack of interest by County officials who maintain it’s a City problem.

In an unfortunate development at the field level, according to David Gerson, a United States Soccer certified mentor and referee, officials at the tournament were told by the Surf organizers to avoid handing out penalty cards that would take players out of games because “people paid a lot of money to be here.” That directive appears to have sparked a dangerous brawl involving over 30 parents, coaches, and players physically attacking referees who tried to rein in excessive violence by one team and their coach.

Mr. Gerson’s Instagram link with video from the incident and comments by fellow referees and soccer parents is included here.

* Figures for the July 19-22, 2024 tournament based on data provided by Surf Cup for a 2014 economic analysis by San Diego State University’s Center for Hospitality and Tourism Research. Click here to read the study.

A stark reminder

Smoke from a brush fire in the Torrey Pines State Natural Reserve Extension just west of the I-5 in Del Mar

A small, mid-morning brush fire in a Del Mar canyon June 25 grew in size during the early afternoon sending plumes of smoke into the sky just four miles from Surf Cup’s biggest soccer tournament of the year.

Despite the smoke and dramatic scenes of firefighting helicopters scooping water from a lake behind the playing fields, cars continued to come and go throughout the day with eastbound traffic on Via de la Valle backed up two miles to the freeway. Fortunately, it was an off day at the San Diego County Fairgrounds.

The fire was contained by early evening, thanks to the skilled efforts of firefighters in the air and on the ground but it was a stark visual reminder of why there are continuing concerns about the wisdom of allowing massive gatherings of people and cars in the San Dieguito River Valley – in direct violation of a grant deed that governs use of that leased land – and the impact on neighboring communities and surface street traffic in the event of a more serious emergency. Unhindered evacuations would be critical not just for the thousands of players and families to exit the playing fields, but for many more thousands of residents who would use the same routes to safety.

Business as usual

The City of San Diego’s failure to enforce the Grant Deed restrictions generated an April 2023 lawsuit that among other goals seeks to limit Surf Cup Sports’ use of the fields to 25 days a year as stipulated in the Grant Deed. Even before the lawsuit, San Diego officials – including City Councilman Joe LaCava whose District One encompasses the sports fields – have studiously looked the other way to avoid addressing or taking action on complaints about the increased, daily use of the fields and accompanying traffic, noise, and dust. 

The County of San Diego appears to be in lockstep with the City. When specific concerns about unsustainable levels of traffic and numerous accidents on San Diego County Route S-6 (Via de la Valle) near the Surf Cup Sports entrance were raised by the Whispering Palms Community Council in a recent letter to County Supervisor Terra Lawson-Remer, the response was equally evasive:  

“After close review of the issue,” an aide to Supervisor Lawson wrote in May 2024, “it appears this situation directly involves the City of San Diego. The County of San Diego and Supervisor Terra Lawson-Remer does [sic] not have any authority to directly address your concerns. Because you live in our County Supervisorial District, we are happy to forward your concern along to the City Council Member’s office.”

Morning traffic was backed up two miles to the I-5 freeway

Institutional obfuscation

The City of San Diego’s Department of Development Services (DSD) recently offered to meet with representatives of the Whispering Palms Community Council to discuss the controversial two-story, 48,000 sq. ft. sports complex proposed by Surf Cup Sports (d.b.a. as Pioneer Sports and Entertainment) for the 24-acre parcel adjacent to the former polo fields. Before the meeting however, DSD requested that questions for the meeting be submitted in advance. Eight questions were duly sent over. The DSD then replied that the topics raised could not be discussed in person, and that instead, the DSD would respond in writing. That unhelpful document now can be viewed via this link.

Promises, promises

Eight years ago, a March 2016 article in the Del Mar Times by veteran local reporter, Karen Billing, announced that Surf Cup Sports had won the proposal from the City of San Diego to take over the lease of the San Diego Polo Fields. Jim Madaffer, a Surf Cup Sports representative, was quoted extensively throughout the piece as he outlined Surf’s plans for the property and the community.  

Not all the facts and figures reported in the story were correct and few of the many promises made before the Carmel Valley Community Planning group have been kept; the most glaring of which was Surf Cup’s plans to “adhere” to the use limitations under the grant deed as well as the type of events permitted. 

Although the article has been available on the Coalition website for some time, it represents the kind of misinformation the Coalition must constantly counter. And it’s worth reviewing today in light of what has happened over the past eight years, how the City of San Diego’s failure to enforce the lease and grant deed restrictions led to the complaint filed last April against the City, and why there now is a GoFundMe campaign to raise funds in support of that lawsuit. Click on this link to go to the annotated article.

Broader community funding sought to support lawsuit

Typical Friday afternoon practice for soccer and/or flag football teams on the back field, located in the northeast corner of the 114-acre property. The area is less visible but sees far greater use than the main fields throughout the year.

“Help Save our Rural River Valley” is the appeal for a GoFundMe campaign just launched to support the ongoing lawsuit against the City of San Diego and Surf Cup Sports. The ultimate goal of the suit, by limiting the use of the former polo fields to 25 days a year as stipulated by the grant deed that runs with the land, is to preserve the environmentally sensitive San Dieguito River Valley. Click on the link to view the GoFundMe page and/or to donate.

Petition against proposed sports complex gathers steam

A petition drafted in opposition to Surf Cup Sports’ permit application (d.b.a. Pioneer Sports and Entertainment) to build a sports complex has generated nearly 500 signatures and comments in the short time since it went online. The change.org petition urges the City of San Diego to deny permission to build a huge, two-story sports complex on the 24-acre parcel and designated wetlands adjacent to the former polo fields in the San Dieguito River Valley. You can read and/or sign the petition here: https://www.change.org/p/halt-the-approval-of-site-development-for-pioneer-sports-and-entertainment

Surf Sports Del Mar proposes two-story sports complex for vacant parcel

Despite the pending lawsuit and past environmental transgressions, on Nov. 21, 2023, Surf Cup Sports (d.b.a. as Pioneer Sports and Entertainment) applied to the City of San Diego for a permit to build a massive, 48,000 sq. ft. sports facility and parking area on the environmentally sensitive 24-acre parcel adjacent to the polo fields in the San Dieguito River Valley. According to HED, the firm tasked with designing the project, it “consists of full-sized soccer fields, pickle-ball courts, basketball and volleyball courts, player lounge, office space, and locker rooms in addition to over 350 parking stalls.”

HED Design’s rendering of the 48,000 sq. ft. facility along Via de la Valle