CITY OF SUNNYVALE
Department of Parks and Recreation
December 6, 2002
TO: Honorable Mayor and Members of the City Council Parks and Recreation Commissioners
THROUGH: Robert S. LaSala, City Manager
FROM: Robert A. Walker, Director of Parks and Recreation
SUBJECT: Las Palmas Tennis Center
This memo is simply an early herald of possible future changes at the City’s tennis complex at Las Palmas Park.
The Las Palmas Tennis Center opened on June 1, 1976, and it has been operated ever since under license agreement with the same operator, Mr. Jan Young. The current license agreement does not expire until January 1, 2012. However, the Tennis Center license agreement includes a term which reads:
“Licensee shall not…assign or transfer this License or any of the rights or privileges herein licensed, or any part thereof; provided, however, that…not earlier than January 1, 2004, Licensee may make such assignment or transfer if approved by the City Council within its sole discretion, upon a determination by the City Council that the proposed assignee or transferee is sufficiently qualified to exercise this License or the particular right(s), privilege(s) proposed to be assigned or transferred, and has been sufficiently trained by Licensee at the Center, Pro Shop, food service building, as may be applicable, for a period of not less than one (1) year on a full-time basis.”
In accordance with the license Agreement, Mr. Young has notified staff that he wishes to transfer the entire license agreement to Mr. Brian Garrow effective January 1, 2004. Mr. Young has enjoyed a long and positive tenure with the City as operator of the Tennis Center and were he to leave he would do so on very good terms with the City. We will, in fact, be sad to see him go whenever he decides to leave. Mr. Young simply feels that after nearly a 30-year career at the Tennis Center, it is time to move on.
Fortunately, Mr. Young has worked as hard at finding a replacement for himself as he has at all his other endeavors. The proposed assignee, or transferee, Mr. Brian Garrow, has been employed by Mr. Young at the tennis center since June of 2000. Mr. Garrow came to the center with an impressive resume, both as a professional player (ranked as high as #93 in the world in singles and #12 in doubles!) and as a coach (brought both the UCLA and Pepperdine University teams to top ten rankings in the NCAA). While staff will withhold final comment on Mr. Garrow until after he has had an opportunity to demonstrate overall leadership and management at the center, the early signs are very positive and promising. By the time January 1, 2004, rolls around, Mr. Garrow will have spent well over the required year being trained to assume the roll of licensee at Las Palmas.
This memo is intended simply to advise Council of Mr. Young’s intentions to pursue a formal transfer of the license to Mr. Garrow effective January 1, 2004, and of his intent to train and prepare Mr. Garrow between now and then to assume the license agreement.
Prior to January 1, 2004, assuming Mr. Young’s intentions do not change, staff will bring this matter before the Parks and Recreation Commission and City Council for formal action in a public hearing. Prior to that time, staff will work with Mr. Young to inform the public of the proposed change in licensee, so that those interested may provide public comment to the Commission and Council at the appropriate time.
RAW/ks
c: Curtis Black, Superintendent of Parks
Jan Young, Las Palmas Tennis Center
Brian Garrow, Las Palmas Tennis Center