A Private School Wants To Build On A Beloved Studio City Golf Course. Hundreds Of Residents Weigh In

Los Angeles city planners heard from hundreds of residents during a public hearing Wednesday over the fate of a private school’s plans to redevelop a Studio City golf course into a student athletics complex.

The Harvard-Westlake school’s proposed 17-acre River Park Project would be built along a half-mile stretch of the L.A. River. The site is currently occupied by the Weddington Golf and Tennis facility, a 9-hole course that first opened in 1956 and costs $12 to play on weekdays.

Harvard-Westlake purchased the property in 2017 for $42 million, with plans to expand athletics opportunities for students. The school’s current plan includes two fields, a running track, a gym, a swimming pool and eight tennis courts.

Harvard-Westlake, which charges about $47,000 per year for tuition for seventh to 12th graders, already has a field, a gym, a track and an Olympic-sized swimming pool on campus. But the school’s head of athletics Terry Barnum said existing facilities can’t accommodate all the student athletes who want to play sports.

“We're having to stack practices throughout the school year, with students not starting practice until sometimes seven o'clock at night,” Barnum said. The River Park project would allow practices to start earlier and enable the school to launch a girl’s lacrosse program, he said.

Opponents see 'an arrogance of wealth'

For years, the school’s proposal has faced fierce opposition from Studio City residents who worry about noise, traffic, field lighting and the loss of hundreds of mature shade trees.

Teri Austin with the group Save Weddington said the project, located four blocks from her home, would take affordable recreation space away from the public and put it in the hands of an expensive private school.

“Now if that isn't an arrogance of wealth, I don't know of a better example,” Austin said.

L.A.’s planning department held a virtual hearing Wednesday to document public support and opposition to the school’s request for conditional use permits from the city, which are needed for the project to move forward.

Supporters say the public will have access

Callers who supported the project said Harvard-Westlake would be a good steward of the property. They noted the school has plans to replace uprooted trees, to set aside six acres of public park space for walking and jogging along the river, and to make sports facilities available to the public when not in use by students.

“The access that the community is going to have to this amazing new facility is going to be unprecedented for private property,” said caller Shauna Altieri. “I just can't imagine a future for this site that is more beneficial to more members of the community than what Harvard-Westlake has outlined.”

Many of the callers in favor of the project appeared to be alumni or staff of Harvard-Westlake (Altieri is listed as an assistant director of communications on the school’s website).

Others called on the city to deny the project’s permits, including Studio City resident Bill Nye (as in “The Science Guy”). He said he often plays disc golf at Weddington in the afternoons, when school teams would be practicing.

“It’s a private school,” Nye said. “You’re not going to be able to run on the track when the track team is running. You’re not going to be able to swim in the pool when the swim team is swimming … Once this thing is gone we’re never going to get it back. And that’s why I oppose this project.”

Famous alumni

Harvard-Westlake was named the second best private high school in the nation in 2023 by the school review website Niche. Alumni include actors Jake and Maggie Gyllenhaal, journalist Jessica Yellin and former L.A. Mayor Eric Garcetti.

Harvard-Westlake president Rick Commons said opponents of the project often unfairly paint the school as a bastion of privilege and wealth. He said the school has dedicated almost $15 million in annual financial aid to 350 students from all over L.A.

Commons said Studio City homeowners have long opposed the prospect of new housing development on the Weddington site. He sees the River Park project as a win-win for both the school and the desires of the surrounding community.

“We want to build a facility that serves our students, serves the greater Studio City community and our community partners, and improves the environment,” Commons said.

Commons said there have been “dozens of adjustments that we've made in response to concerns with the community, that we have wanted very much to accommodate.”

Those changes include a smaller gym, one pool instead of two and three fewer lanes on the running track. In addition to reducing parking, lighting and bleacher seating, Commons said the school will preserve Weddington Golf’s clubhouse and putting green. The city designated the site a historic-cultural monument in 2021.

Opponents like Teri Austin don’t see why the school needs to build on the Weddington site, which she views as valuable green space and a beautifully preserved slice of mid-century Americana.

“They have two campuses already,” Austin said. “They do have options to build this elsewhere. And they're choosing to try to ram it down the throat of this neighborhood when we have something that is so unique.”

City councilmember hasn’t taken a position on the project

The proposed project is located in city councilmember Nithya Raman’s district. She has yet to take a position on whether the development should move forward.

“While this effort predates our time representing this neighborhood, our office continues to productively engage with community members, advocacy groups, and the school to gather feedback in order to achieve the best outcomes — as we do with all projects under the city’s discretion,” Raman said in an emailed statement.

Wednesday’s public hearing was not designed to reach any conclusion about the project’s fate. The plans are scheduled to go before the city’s planning commission on Aug. 24 before any final decision will be made.