The Los Angeles City Planning Commission on Thursday, Aug. 24, advanced 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.
This week’s vote is just one step in a multi-step approval process.
Rick Commons, president of Harvard-Westlake School, in a statement following the planning commission’s approval of a conditional use permit, 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…
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