- Jurisdiction
- California
I visit the Los Angeles Equestrian center (located in Burbank, at the northern tip of Griffith Park) several times per week. It's a sprawling 75 acres with stables & arenas. There's also park area where I go for exercise, as do many other local residents, who walk their dogs there.
About 8 months ago, the city awarded a new management contract to a different party; the previous agreement expired after 20 years or so, and the city council voted to give someone else (ASM Global I believe) the new contract.
The new managers came in with a heavy authoritarian hand, and closed off 90% of the property to the public, except for one park area near the entrance of the property. I and other locals had several run-ins with the new security team, who told us the park wasn't open to the public, and we had to leave. I went to the administration office to get clarity, and was told we were fine to use the park area, as it's considered part of Griffith Park, is public property owned by the city, and therefore open to public use daily. An administrator with the new management company gave me her card in case of any further issues.
Well, I had one more encounter with a particularly prickly security guard one day, who insisted that the park was off limits. I called the police department for assitance, and was assured that I was fine to be there. After that no more encounters, and people have been using the park freely ever since. Until today.
A guard - a new employee who we'd never seen before - told me & another couple that the land had been sold and "is now private property", and we had to leave. I asked him when it was sold, but he got an attitude and said "I don't have to tell you". So I told him well, I've been through this several times before, and gave him the name of the admin I spoke with, and he could contact her if he wanted. Then he left me alone and I stayed until I felt like leaving.
I've been searching online but can find no mention, no news articles or anything, about any alleged sale of the property. So I called the Parks & Rec Department, and they didn't know anything about it but "There's been a lot of talk about the Equestrian Center lately", and the sergeant in charge of that area is out until mid week, so I could call back then.
I pulled up the city council meeting minutes online for the last few months, and could find no item on the agenda to discuss a sale of part of the land at the Equestrian Center.
I'll be following up this week with the administration & city council rep. But I'm just wondering if any of this sounds legit? My first instinct was this rent-a-cop who had never worked the park before was giving us false information, possibly conflating the change in management with a *sale* of the property.
I thought there'd be a record of the sale, so I searched the Parks & Recreation website, and the L.A. County tax assessor, but can find no such record. I don't know where else to look.
I suppose I'll find out more this week, but I no longer trust anything anyone tells me and want to get the facts for myself.
Any help or tips on how I can find out for sure if the property was sold or not would be appreciated!
*Just a quick aside: the security is contracted out to a company. During the week the same guards are on duty, but on the weekends it can sometimes be random guards not normally assigned there. Also there's no signage on the property indicating a sale, closure of the park or anything.
About 8 months ago, the city awarded a new management contract to a different party; the previous agreement expired after 20 years or so, and the city council voted to give someone else (ASM Global I believe) the new contract.
The new managers came in with a heavy authoritarian hand, and closed off 90% of the property to the public, except for one park area near the entrance of the property. I and other locals had several run-ins with the new security team, who told us the park wasn't open to the public, and we had to leave. I went to the administration office to get clarity, and was told we were fine to use the park area, as it's considered part of Griffith Park, is public property owned by the city, and therefore open to public use daily. An administrator with the new management company gave me her card in case of any further issues.
Well, I had one more encounter with a particularly prickly security guard one day, who insisted that the park was off limits. I called the police department for assitance, and was assured that I was fine to be there. After that no more encounters, and people have been using the park freely ever since. Until today.
A guard - a new employee who we'd never seen before - told me & another couple that the land had been sold and "is now private property", and we had to leave. I asked him when it was sold, but he got an attitude and said "I don't have to tell you". So I told him well, I've been through this several times before, and gave him the name of the admin I spoke with, and he could contact her if he wanted. Then he left me alone and I stayed until I felt like leaving.
I've been searching online but can find no mention, no news articles or anything, about any alleged sale of the property. So I called the Parks & Rec Department, and they didn't know anything about it but "There's been a lot of talk about the Equestrian Center lately", and the sergeant in charge of that area is out until mid week, so I could call back then.
I pulled up the city council meeting minutes online for the last few months, and could find no item on the agenda to discuss a sale of part of the land at the Equestrian Center.
I'll be following up this week with the administration & city council rep. But I'm just wondering if any of this sounds legit? My first instinct was this rent-a-cop who had never worked the park before was giving us false information, possibly conflating the change in management with a *sale* of the property.
I thought there'd be a record of the sale, so I searched the Parks & Recreation website, and the L.A. County tax assessor, but can find no such record. I don't know where else to look.
I suppose I'll find out more this week, but I no longer trust anything anyone tells me and want to get the facts for myself.
Any help or tips on how I can find out for sure if the property was sold or not would be appreciated!
*Just a quick aside: the security is contracted out to a company. During the week the same guards are on duty, but on the weekends it can sometimes be random guards not normally assigned there. Also there's no signage on the property indicating a sale, closure of the park or anything.
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