Guest Opinion | David Coher: Rose Bowl Made the Right Call to Not Take the Bait

I commend the Rose Bowl Operating Committee (RBOC) for the decision at their last meeting to postpone a vote they were asked to improperly take on a proposed multi-million-dollar development in the Arroyo Seco. They wisely saw that there were many unresolved questions. The City Council should decide if we will spend over $10 million on an unfinished concept plan for a multi-story driving range and two miniature golf courses in the center of Pasadena’s otherwise beautiful Arroyo. 

Killing the Golden Goose

The proposal, sketched out in a limited fashion in a highly technical document called a Mitigated Negative Declaration study (or MND) and designed to avoid the full environmental review generally required for such a large project, shows that this construction site will be in the middle of Brookside’s current festival grounds — despite the existing festival business delivering much-needed cash for the City with limited impact to the residents.

Brookside currently hosts up to 10 music festivals a year. Combined, these festivals bring in a minimum of $3 million a year for five years, comprising over 47% of the revenues for golf operations.

Unfortunately, the current proposal would occupy most of the festival grounds — essentially killing this business. If you don’t believe me, look at the drawing, taking the MND study’s area (their red line) and laying it over the map of this weekend’s festival (their map).

How happy would you be if you paid $3 million a year to hold parties for five years and someone put that red line in the middle of your party?

But Rose Bowl staff claims that the festival organizers “love the plan.” Yet, despite their “love” for it, we haven’t heard any public comment supporting it from the festival organizers or, more importantly, any commitment to not use this proposal as an excuse to renegotiate the current deal or lower future payments.

Until we see commitments from organizers, the proposal, in short, is to kill the one thing that consistently provides the stable financing that is so desperately needed to maintain America’s Stadium and the surrounding Brookside golf course.

Questionable Math

But it gets worse. The current proposal is to kill the bird in our ‘hand’ (of a festival business) for two in the ‘bush’ (of an untested business theory).

The finances for the proposal are guesses by staff. There has yet to be any analysis provided, and no independent analysis has been provided by anyone with experience running the proposed new business or anything like it.

Incredibly, staff claims this will generate 2.4 MILLION DOLLARS OF PROFIT A YEAR!

Assuming 350 days of continuous operations for 10 hours a day, 36 holes of mini-golf, and a family or group of four on every hole, 10 hours a day, every day, rain-or-shine – they’ll need $19.05 of profit per foursome. Furthermore, $2,400,000 divided by $19.05 per foursome means 126,000 foursomes or another 504,000 golfers or mini-golfers in the Arroyo!

Plus, that doesn’t include operating costs of, conservatively, $10 a person for a $15 ticket. (Meaning this business would have an incredible 33.3% profit margin!) Just one question – does anyone know an Angeleno family of four who will pay $60 to play miniature golf in the rain?

Gold-Plated Miniature Golf

Yet, the math gets even more silly as the proposal would require millions of dollars from the City and us as taxpayers!

Officially, the proposal calls for us taxpayers to pay $1 million upfront and with no plan to pay it back – but that’s just the start. Buried in the staff report is that the proposal calls for $1.2 million a year to finance a total budget of at least $11.6 million (assuming City bonds at 2.5% interest) – with you and me on the hook if the nearly half a million golfers and mini-golfers a year don’t show up to play in the rain.

These figures are based upon debt service payments of $1.2 million being ‘expected.’ But, of course, the inevitable cost overruns on a $11.6 million construction project are not expected. The taxpayers are on the hook for that mulligan!

Grateful

I want to thank the RBOC, once again, for being wise enough not to take the bait offered of allegedly ‘easy money.’ The next step is for the RBOC to send this decision to the proper body of the City Council, allowing our Councilmembers to ask the tough questions (which I’ve seen them ask time and again) and protect our taxpayer dollars.

David Coher is a Pasadena resident and member of the Planning Commission. His opinions offered here are his own.