Rose Bowl Board Votes to Send Brookside Family Golf Course Project to Pasadena City Council To Decide

The Rose Bowl Operating Company Board voted unanimously Tuesday to send a complex multi-part recommendation for actions related to initiating a Brookside golf course improvement project to the Pasadena City Council for consideration.

The project would expand the existing driving range from 20 to 60 hitting bays and introduce a family-friendly miniature golf course near the Brookside Clubhouse. The RBOC Board says the project would improve the course for golfers and non-golfers alike and would generate new revenue for the city.

The proposed project has been met with mixed reactions from the community. Some residents have expressed concerns about the impact the project would have on traffic and noise levels in the area, as well as the effects of night lighting on the neighborhood. Others have said they support the project, believing it would be a positive addition to the city.

The Board vote was actually on an amended motion put forth by Board Member and City Councilmember Steve Madison, who represents the district.

The original motion before the RBOC Board motion had four parts:

Adopt the Mitigated Negative Declaration and Mitigation Monitoring and Reporting Program for the Brookside Golf Course Improvement Project.
Request $1 million in financial assistance from the City Council to further develop the Brookside Golf Course Improvement Project.
Include a Family Golf concept option in the Request for Proposal for golf course management.
Authorize the Chief Executive Officer/General Manager to apply for a conditional use permit and design review for the Project.

The amended motion approved by the Board simply moves the proposal directly to the City Council for their consideration and possible vote “at a time to be determined,” according to RBOC President Steve Haderlein.

Introducing the discussion, Rose Bowl General Manager Jens Weiden told the Board, “This is a topic that the RBOC has talked about for some time now, …we’ve presented and discussed this with City Council multiple times, and this was on the shortlist of projects that they wanted us to review, as far as revenue-generating opportunities, about a year ago.”

Weiden told the board that “all of the Rose Bowl tenants were very excited about this project,” including UCLA and the Tournament of Roses. Weiden also said that the musical event partners, which would include GoldenVoice and AEG, were “very excited” that the driving range itself, where outdoor concerts are mounted, “would be staying in the same place.”

Speaking to community concerns about trees and lighting, Weiden said, “From a tree perspective, we think that we are are going to cut down the number of trees that are impacted, and we have made a commitment that any non-native trees that are removed, would be replaced with 2 to 1 native trees.”

Weiden also stated that current lighting technology “continues to get better,” and that the RBOC will look to “put appropriate lights in wherever we can.”

But the proposal has run into resistance for at least two years from Rose Bowl neighbors, who have complained that the new construction and eventual impact of the expansion would negatively impact the wildlife in the area, especially birds.

Local resident David Coher, a professional mediator, told the board in a written statement Tuesday (published in Pasadena Now) that he was skeptical about the commitments from tenants and festival organizers about the new layout, having seen no proof of such a commitment.

“Rose Bowl staff incredulously claim that the festival organizers ‘love the plan,’” Coher wrote. “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” he continued, “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.”

Board Member and Councilmember Madison, explaining the motion to move the decision to the full City Council said following the meeting, ‘This is a unique project, a substantial project, and it’s appropriate, given the uniqueness of the financial partnership with the City, that we present this to the full Council, and have an opportunity for the full Council to pass judgment on it.”