April 21 update: Councilman Ryu announced today that construction on the basketball court has been halted until community concerns can be considered.

A group of residents near Runyon Canyon Park in the Hollywood Hills filed a lawsuit Monday in Los Angeles County Superior Court seeking to block plans for a basketball court in the park.

The basketball court is proposed at the site of a dilapidated tennis court in Runyon Canyon Park. (photo courtesy of the Friends of Runyon Canyon)

The lawsuit was filed two weeks after a public meeting was held at which more than 100 people expressed concerns about the plan. The basketball court is being funded by a $260,000 donation from Neima Khaila, co-owner of the Pink Dolphin apparel store on Fairfax Avenue, and the project was approved last fall by the Los Angeles Department of Recreation and Parks Board of Commissioners. The basketball court is planned to be built on a dilapidated tennis court that was on the grounds of a private residence which was annexed to the park.

Much of the concern centers on a Pink Dolphin logo that will be included on the court, and that a commercialized sports facility will set a bad precedent.

“The privatization of a public park is horrible,” said Bob Mansell, one of three plaintiffs who filed the lawsuit. “Runyon Canyon is a public asset. How could you put a basketball court in a rustic canyon?”

Mansell, who is a member of a grassroots group called Citizens Preserving Runyon Canyon, is joined in the lawsuit by residents Chris Bunch and Elaine Lockhart. Mansell said he lives near the park and walks there almost daily. He said the noise from a basketball court is one factor in the opposition, but the main issue is allowing a commercial logo.

“This is a purchase,” Mansell said. “If he wants to make a donation, we’ll give him all the opportunity. But he wants a logo, and that is a purchase.”

The lawsuit names the city of Los Angeles and the Board of Recreation and Park Commissioners as defendants. Multiple requests for comment from the Department of Recreations and Parks (RAP), which is overseeing the project, were unanswered. Calls to Pink Dolphin owner Khaila were also not returned.

RAP worked with the private nonprofit support organization, the Friends of Runyon Canyon (FORC), to develop the basketball court project. The FORC is not named as a defendant in the lawsuit, but is listed as a party of interest. FORC president John Gile said previously that he believes the basketball court will be a beneficial addition to the park. He declined to comment on the lawsuit, other than to say he believes the city will prevail.

Some preliminary work on the basketball court has already begun. A significant part of the project involves building a retaining wall to hold back an adjacent hillside. The basketball court project is being completed while Runyon Canyon Park is closed through the end of July for water system improvements. The lawsuit seeks to block the project from continuing until it can be vetted more thoroughly by the public. The timeline for when the lawsuit will be considered has not been set.

Anastasia Mann, president of the Hollywood Hills West Neighborhood Council, said her organization opposes the project. She added that the anger from residents centers on the fact that the neighborhood council was not consulted when the project was developed and examined by the RAP Board of Commissioners.

“No one approached the neighborhood council about it,” Mann said. “Something as important as this … they should have come to us. It was very uncomfortable for the community to feel like they were tricked and this was going to happen without anyone knowing about it.”

Estevan Montemayor, communication director for Councilman David Ryu, 4th District, said the councilman believes the neighborhood council and the public should have been consulted about the project, and vowed to have more public input on similar projects moving forward. Montemayor said the council office does not comment on litigation, but is consulting with the Los Angeles City Attorney’s Office on the matter.

Ryu announced on April 21 that the Los Angeles Board of Recreation and Parks Commissioners will reconsider the project. No timeline was announced.

“This project was initiated before I became the council member of the 4th District and it is clear that community concern regarding this project needs more robust consideration prior to any further action,” Ryu said in a statement.