SAN DIEGO — After being sued for not enforcing regulations regarding activities at Surf Cup Sports Park in Del Mar, the City of San Diego is seeking to erase these regulations, rendering the lawsuit moot.
The city of San Diego was deeded the 80 acres of land on Via de la Valle, historically known as the polo fields, by developer Watts Industries/San Diego in 1983. A grant deed adopted between the two parties included a section called Exhibit B that restricted how the land could be used, including a requirement to reserve it as open space with “passive non-commercial recreational uses.”
For the past two years, the city has been embroiled in a lawsuit filed by the Fairbanks Polo Club Homeowners Association, which comprises residents living near the park. The residents allege that the city has allowed Surf Cup Sports, its youth soccer operator tenant since 2016, to hold activities at the fields far beyond what is permitted under the grant deed.
According to the suit, Surf Cup Sports has hosted large tournaments and events that draw thousands of people, resulting in excessive noise, increased vehicle traffic, and commercial activity, and has held events beyond the 25-day-per-year limit.
Residents and members of the San Dieguito Planning Group were shocked in late June to learn that the city plans to modify key aspects of the more than 40-year-old grant deed at the center of the case, effectively circumventing the lawsuit.
The 1983 grant deed states that the city and the original grantor, Watts Industries, can agree to terminate the land use restrictions, provided that the company or its successors still own property within the benefited land area, which includes 18 parcels in the Fairbanks Ranch area.
In a June 24 email filed in court, San Diego Deputy City Attorney Jenny Goodman said the city had discovered Ocean Industries Inc., the successor of Watts Industries, owns land in the benefited area, and that the two parties are formalizing an agreement to alter the grant deed via a San Diego City Council resolution.
“If the city adopts the resolution authorizing the Mayor or his designee to enter into a termination agreement with Ocean, it will eliminate Exhibit B to the Grant Deed and Plaintiffs’ entire case will become moot,” Goodman said in the email to attorneys for the residents, Surf Cup, and Ocean Industries.
A spokesperson for the San Diego City Attorney’s Office said the matter will be discussed at a council meeting after the council’s August recess.
Dave Peck, an attorney with Coast Law Group representing the Fairbanks residents, described the city’s actions as a “backdoor deal” to try to avoid facing issues in court. He said they intend to continue to fight if the city proceeds.
“Now, they’ve blown the doors off to allow virtually unlimited commercial uses of the field,” Peck said. “We think it’s a violation of public trust, and a violation of the spirit and intent of the grant deed. We look forward to having our day in court and addressing these issues.”
The lawsuit has been stayed until December pending the City Council resolution.
Opposition
Removing Exhibit B from the grant deed would eliminate the narrow restrictions on uses of the fields, with language currently prohibiting the construction of housing, parking lots, churches, schools, public utility infrastructure, or other uses not related to recreation.
The Coalition to Preserve the Polo Fields, comprised of residents concerned about Surf’s activities at the fields, said removing the restrictions in the grant deed would “eviscerate the legal protections” put in place for the benefit of the communities living near the field.
“This is no less than an attempt to prevent the court from adjudicating in the Fairbanks case whether the City and Surf are in violation of those restrictions, and, even more important, to remove those legal safeguards from Surf’s future exploitation of the fields,” the coalition said in a July 5 statement.
The San Dieguito Planning Group, which advises the County of San Diego on land use matters in Rancho Santa Fe and surrounding areas, also issued a letter to the city opposing the action.
“The communities we serve are severely impacted by the activities on these fields and extremely concerned about these new developments. Based on the widely observed uses which appear to violate the current deed restrictions both in frequency and type of use, the SDPG has serious concerns about this new attempt to remove the restrictions altogether,” said SDPG Chair Douglas Dill.
The city of San Diego earns significant revenue from Surf Cup through the lease of the fields, with a quarterly base rent of $60,000 plus 10% of the gross revenues. Surf Cup’s lease began in 2016 and is set to expire in 2044, which coincidentally is also the year that the land use restrictions outlined in the grant deed will expire.
Surf Cup was added as a co-defendant in the lawsuit after asking to intervene due to their stake in the potential outcome of the case. Representatives for Surf have denied violating the grant deed and state that they are trying to expand youth soccer opportunities.
Along with youth soccer, Surf Cup Sports Park also hosts a training and practice facility for National Women’s Soccer League club San Diego Wave FC. Earlier this year, another athletic training facility, Performance Lab SD, began operating on one of the fields.
Residents have complained that these new facilities have increased commercial activity at the fields. Further changes to the grant deed, they said, would not only remove protections that have been in place for more than 40 years but would also significantly deviate from the vision outlined in the Fairbanks Ranch Specific Plan, which guided the development of the Fairbanks Ranch community.
“People have higher expectations, and we thought there was integrity in the government and in contracts. We thought that contracts mean something,” said resident Polly Wheatley, who lives along Via Reposo above the fields.
Fairbanks Polo Club residents also emphasize that they have a legal say in what happens at the fields. In 2018, Ocean Industries assigned all rights as the land grantor to the Fairbanks Polo Club Homeowners Association, giving the residents the right to, without limitation, “approve all discretionary uses” for the land requested by the city of San Diego.
However, the city of San Diego and Surf Cup Sports have argued in court filings that this assignment of rights to the residents is not valid because the group’s correct name is not Fairbanks Polo Club Homeowners Association, but Fairbanks Polo Club Homes.
Fairbanks Polo Club Homes has since filed a separate lawsuit against Ocean Industries seeking to correct the 2018 assignment of the grantor’s rights to state their correct name.
Surf properties
Despite pushback from some residents, Surf Cup has shared plans to grow its operations in the San Dieguito Valley. The youth soccer giant is planning the development of a two-story sports facility on a vacant property adjacent to the fields to the north, which it purchased back in 2022.
Surf’s connection to the purchase of another neighboring property has also resulted in legal troubles.
In 2021, resident Corwyn Ha’o sold his residential property at 3995 Via de la Valle to Wendy Naerbo, who has the same residential address as Surf’s vice president, Rob Haskell. After purchasing the property, Naerbo transferred ownership to Surf Del Mar Two, a company managed by Haskell and Jeremy McDonald, president of the San Diego Surf Soccer Club.
Ha’o accused Naerbo of fraud in an April 2024 complaint, claiming that she never mentioned any connection to Surf and represented herself as an equestrian who would use the land as horse property.
After Ha’o filed his lawsuit, Surf Del Mar Two sold the land again in June 2024 to individuals who do not appear to have a connection to any Surf companies. Ha’o, Naerbo and Surf Del Mar Two are currently in settlement talks.
