Another month, another request by the Los Angeles Country Club to postpone a hearing at the City’s Planning and Land Use Management (PLUM) committee meeting on a proposed “errant golf ball deflection fence” ranging between 150 and 166 feet.
The matter was supposed to come in front of the committee at its April 29 meeting, but attorney Mark Armbruster, who represents the Los Angeles Country Club, wrote a letter to PLUM on April 24 requesting the matter be postponed until June.
Committee members tentatively tabled the hearing on the proposed fence to June 3.
Partially located within the borders of Century City, the Los Angeles Country Club is bisected by Wilshire Boulevard and directly adjacent to Santa Monica Boulevard. As both thoroughfares are amongst the busiest roads in Southern California, there is a real chance an errant golf ball from the Country Club’s fairways could fly onto Wilshire or Santa Monica boulevards and potentially strike a vehicle or pedestrian.
Under current zoning laws, the errant golf ball deflection fence must be no taller than 30 feet in height, about one-fifth the size of what the Los Angeles Country Club seeks.
A request by the Los Angeles Country Club seeking a zoning variance to allow the construction of an errant golf ball deflection fence as high as 166 feet near the country club’s 16th hole was initially approved by the West Los Angeles Planning Commission.
That decision was appealed by BH Wilshire International, a developer planning to build a pair of high-end condominium buildings at the old Robinsons-May site near the intersection of Wilshire and Santa Monica Boulevards.
The developer stated in its appeal a 166-foot fence would have “significant adverse effects” on its property at 9900 Wilshire Boulevard.
BH Wilshire International lost its appeal late last year.
If allowed to be constructed, the fence could actually be used to protect errant golf balls from striking the condominiums, should they be built, and help the Los Angeles Country Club minimize its exposure to potential lawsuits.
BH Wilshire International reportedly contended a fence reaching 166 feet in height is about as tall as a mid-level high-rise building and, accordingly, would block the view of some condominium owners.
According to news reports, the two condominium buildings would be 14 to 16 stories in height. A 166-foot fence would be equivalent to a building 15 to 20 stories high.
Attorneys for BH Wilshire International stated in its appeal the errant golf ball deflection fence would cost Los Angeles Country Club an estimated $1.3 million.
The appeal also stated BH Wilshire International, which is based in South Florida, never asked the Los Angeles Country Club for protection from errant golf balls.
“There is no credible evidence of any prior injury or property damage resulting from an errant golf ball” from the Los Angeles Country Club in more than 50 years, attorneys for BH Wilshire International stated in its appeal.
Attorneys for the Los Angeles Country Club requested the issue be tabled from the most recent PLUM committee meeting in order to have more time for the Los Angeles Country Club and BH Wilshire International to potentially reach an agreement.
If no agreement were reached, PLUM committee members would likely resolve the matter with a vote.
There are three members on the PLUM committee: Councilmen Jose Huizar (Chair), Gilbert Cedillo, and Mitchell Englander.
The Los Angeles Country Club is located at 10101 Wilshire Boulevard and in the shadows of Century City’s high-rises.
