Athletic Field

Withdrawal of the Athletic Field Project

On September 4, 2015, the City was notified by Marymount officials that it would be submitting the City a letter withdrawing its current incomplete Conditional Use Permit Revision Application for a new athletic field. Marymount's withdrawal letter was submitted to the City on September 15, 2015. However, since more than six months had lapsed without any activity on the incomplete application, Staff administratively closed the project on September 8, 2015.

View the Marymount's September 15, 2015 Withdrawal Letter (PDF)

Proposed Netting Mock-Up

In September 2014, Marymount informed the City that it was ready to re-start the processing of their Athletic Field application. In response to numerous emails from members of the public with concerns about the processing of their application, Staff notified Marymount, the City Council and the public that the City would not re-start the processing of the Athletic Field application, until some updated materials are submitted to the City by Marymount.

One of the issues that needs to be resolved by Staff before application processing can re-start is whether an MND is still the appropriate environmental document to process for this project in light of the revelation by Marymount in September 2014 that the proposed netting around the athletic field will be permanent. To make this determination, Marymount will be installing a mock-up of the netting towards the end of February 2014 so that City Staff and the City's environmental consultant (Rincon), can assess whether the proposed permanent netting will impair surrounding residents' views of the ocean. If Staff determines that the permanent netting may result in a "significant unavoidable impact," pursuant to CEQA, Marymount will be required to process a focused EIR for the Athletic Field proposal rather than continuing with the processing of the MND. Either document will address the netting's impacts to views and to wildlife, among other potential impacts.

The temporary netting mock-up will be installed for a period of 30-days with three netting sections comprised of the actual net (1-1/2 inches) that will be used. The three netting sections will be 60-feet wide and located on the north, west, and south sides of the proposed Athletic Field. While the permanent netting is proposed to be 30 feet in height, the height of the three temporary netting sections will vary from 20 to 25 feet from existing grade because the actual field is proposed to be lowered 5-10 feet from existing grade. However, the top of the netting mock-up will be at the same height as the proposed permanent netting. Additionally, the City is also asking Marymount to install mock-up poles at certain points along the perimeter of the proposed Athletic Field to depict the netting footprint.

View the exhibit depicting the placement (PDF) of the netting mock-up and poles (please note that the exhibit needs to be viewed at 11inches by 17 inches to accurately reflect the scale of the drawing).

Prior to installation of the netting mock-up that will be in place for 30-days, property owners within a 500-foot radius of the campus, interested parties, the Marymount list-serve group, as well as the City Council will be notified. Photo documentation of the mock-up will also occur for future use during the public hearing process of the Athletic Field application.

City to Resume Processing the Reconfiguration Project
On September 9, 2014, the City received a letter from Mr. Davis, legal counsel for Marymount California University, requesting the City resume processing Marymount's application to reconfigure the 2010-Council approved Athletic Field (CUP Number 9 Revision "E"). The September 9th letter includes new/additional information regarding the application request, such as requesting to install permanent netting rather than retractable netting and the offer to install a mock-up of the proposed netting.

• View the September 9, 2014 letter from Mr. Davis (PDF)

Staff is reviewing the submitted information and developing a tentative processing schedule which will posted on the City's website accordingly within the next few weeks.