Anger Over 5-Story Spielberg Horse Building
L O S A N G E L E S, Dec. 26 -- It might not be a Jurassic-size park, but Steven Spielberg’s neighbors say a giant five-story horse-riding ring that the director plans to build is just too big.
“It’s just astounding and obnoxious,” said land-use attorneyJohn Murdock, who has been retained by a half-dozen people who livenear the proposed site. “They’re cutting out half the hillside toput in this riding ring the structure is completely alien tothe area.”
The planned 27,000-square-foot building would be about six timesthe size of a typical home in the tony but low-key Brentwoodneighborhood. Estimates on the project’s cost have exceeded $7million, on top of the $5.75 million Spielberg spent to buy theland for the building.
Spielberg is planning the facility — complete with a domed,retractable roof, subterranean stables and a spectator platform — for his wife, actress and horse lover Kate Capshaw.
The couple lives in another neighborhood near Brentwood, andapparently has no plans to reside on the 2.8-acre site where theconstruction is planned.
Neighbors say they’ll fight the proposal, which would requiresix zoning variances, unless it’s dramatically scaled back.
The city of Los Angeles is scheduled to consider the requestedvariances at a Jan. 4 zoning administration hearing. Spielberg canappeal any decision to an area planning commission and the CityCouncil.
“Are we going to be able to please everyone? No,” said AndySpahn of Spielberg’s DreamWorks SKG entertainment company. “Butwe’ll come a long way toward easing peoples’ concerns.”
Spielberg’s credits include Saving Private Ryan,Schindler’s List, and Jaws. Last year, Capshaw produced andstarred in The Love Letter.
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