SAN DIEGO — Surf Cup Sports is intervening in a lawsuit filed against its landlord, the city of San Diego, regarding its activities at Surf Cup Sports Park on Via de la Valle.
In April, the Fairbanks Polo Club Homeowners Association, made up of residents living near the park, filed a lawsuit against the city for allowing Surf Cup to hold activities at the fields far exceeding what the site’s grant deed permits, including a yearly 25-day limit on events and restriction of operations to “passive, non-commercial uses.”
Surf Cup Sports uses the 80-acre site, historically known as the Del Mar Polo Fields, under a 26-year lease with the city of San Diego established in 2016. The local soccer giant hosts thousands of youth players annually at the fields, serving as the home base for the San Diego Surf Soccer Club and the site of large-scale tournaments each year.
The lawsuit does not name Surf Cup as a defendant but mentions the organization’s activities at the fields that residents claim the city of San Diego should be prohibiting. These include large assemblages of people and cars that the lawsuit claims cause negative impacts on traffic, air quality and the environment.
While the residents say the lawsuit focuses on the city’s failure to enforce the terms of the grant deed, Surf argues that it ultimately seeks to restrict their activities at the fields.
“The activities about which plaintiff complained are all conducted, arranged or permitted by Surf Cup, not the city. Plaintiff, however, inexplicably failed to name Surf Cup as a defendant,” Surf attorney G. Scott Williams said in an Oct. 6 filing. “There can be no doubt that the resolution of this lawsuit in plaintiff’s favor would directly and significantly adversely affect Surf Cup. Accordingly, Surf Cup is entitled to intervene as a defendant to protect its interests.”
On Nov. 3, a Vista Superior Court judge approved Surf Cup’s request to intervene — a procedure permitted when a third party has a personal stake in the outcome of a case — and added them to the lawsuit as a defendant.
The judge’s approval means the organization will now be able to file motions in the case and will be a party in any resolution meetings.
“We are happy with the court’s decision to allow Surf Cup to intervene and protect its interests in this baseless lawsuit. The claims by the plaintiff lack merit. We will defend Surf Cup vigorously and look forward to prevailing in court,” Surf Cup said.
Vatche Chorbajian, the attorney representing the Fairbanks Polo Club Homeowners Association, said the lawsuit has a narrow focus on the terms of the grant deed established between the city and the association in 1983. In addition to a 25-day limit, the current iteration of the document restricts operations at the fields to “passive, non-commercial uses.”
“We don’t have a direct action against Surf Club [sic]… our lawsuit is against the city to remind them that whether you sign with Surf or any other tenant, you need to make sure they are abiding with those restrictions,” Chorbajian said. “It’s very narrow on those issues, and now we have to litigate that against two parties.”
He also countered Surf’s argument that they are trying to limit the organization’s activities, stating the restrictions are clearly outlined in the grant deed.
The San Diego City Attorney’s Office has yet to share any detailed response to the accusations from the homeowners association, filing only a brief answer in July saying the city denies all allegations in the lawsuit.
Andrew Sharp, a representative for the city attorney’s office, said Tuesday that the city did not oppose Surf Cup’s motion to intervene but otherwise declined to comment.
As part of their argument to intervene, Surf also expressed concerns that the city of San Diego would need to represent their interests in court adequately.
Williams said the city may share Surf’s interests in ensuring they can pay their rent and maintain the property, but not necessarily their other interests in “subsidizing youth sports at the Polo Fields and yielding a reasonable return for Surf Cup’s owners.”
The lawsuit comes after years of contention between Surf Cup and residents in adjacent neighborhoods, who have complained of excess traffic, lights and noise due to Surf’s operations.
Jeff Carmel, a 37-year resident of the Whispering Palms in Rancho Santa Fe overlooking the northeasternmost field at the sports park, said the lawsuit is a long-overdue step toward bringing the operations of the fields back in line with the grant deed.
“Ensuring that the city sticks to the covenants that run with that land in our unique San Dieguito River Valley will drastically reduce the impacts of excessive noise – shrieking players, piercing whistles, shouting coaches – as well as clouds of dust and long lines of traffic that residents in Whispering Palms and surrounding communities have had to deal with from dawn to dusk, on a daily basis, over the past several years,” Carmel said.
Neighbors have also raised concerns about Surf’s use of the fields beyond youth soccer. Since last year, the operator has subleased the far east end of the property to San Diego Wave FC for the team’s training facility.
The operator has also subleased the property to other groups for non-soccer events, such as the inaugural Del Mar Wine and Food Festival in September, which drew thousands of people and hundreds of vendors.
Chorbajian said discovery is expected to take place in the coming months.
The next hearing in the case is scheduled for Jan. 26.
