Tennis Club Seeks City OK for Plan to Add 150 Members : Business: Its owner says the increase is vital to a financial comeback. Critics contend that the already limited parking would become a bigger problem.

The financial health of a prestigious tennis club and a suite of offices it runs will be an issue next week when the Manhattan Beach City Council decides whether to approve an increase in club membership.

The Manhattan Country Club, noted for hosting the Virginia Slims Tennis Tournament every summer, is expected to emerge from bankruptcy proceedings in mid-December. And council approval of a membership increase is an important step in revitalizing the club’s finances, according to club owner Keith Brackpool.

The country club’s troubles have been mounting for years as aerospace companies downsized in the South Bay. The club’s 42,000-square-foot office complex felt the ripple effects, losing tenants and earning less revenue from newly negotiated leases.

Overwhelmed by trying to make payments on a $12-million loan from Sumitomo Bank, 1334 Partners L.P. sought protection from its creditors under Chapter 11 of federal bankruptcy codes 15 months ago.

The club, however, has been staging a comeback recently. Earlier this month, a business restructuring plan, including a reworking of the payment schedule to Sumitomo Bank, was unanimously approved by its creditors.

The City Council will conduct a public hearing Tuesday on whether to allow the club to increase its membership from 850 to 1,000. An integral part of the restructuring plan, the boost in membership is needed to fund capital improvements at the club, Brackpool said.

Brackpool resents having to rely on the council for approving the membership plan.

“No other facility in Manhattan Beach that I’m aware of, as long as it complies with the (city) code, has the city telling it what it can and can’t do,” Brackpool said.

But a 1984 conditional-use permit linking parking and membership levels authorizes the city to limit club membership to 850. The variance permitted the club to build its office complex as long as it provided 245 on-site and 50 off-site parking spaces near its property just south of Rosecrans Avenue and east of Manhattan Village shopping center on Sepulveda Boulevard.

If, however, the council overturns the variance, the club, while gaining membership, would have to supply 383 parking spaces--a total that critics say they cannot do.

Former Councilwoman Jan Dennis, who voted for the 1984 variance, believes that the council should stick by its original membership restrictions. Many members have complained that the club already has insufficient parking, and increasing those numbers would exacerbate the parking problem, Dennis said.

“Parking is the big, big issue over there,” Dennis said. “If they are going to increase the membership, they need more parking.”

Some club members opposed to the increase maintain that more members will devalue current memberships, which sell for about $4,000. After securing a recommendation from a member, those seeking entrance to the club must purchase a membership and pay monthly dues.

Also, critics say, more members will erode club services at the facility’s 18 tennis courts and restaurant.

Mayor Dan Stern said he has received similar complaints, but any concern other than parking is a matter for the country club’s board of directors. “I’m keeping an open mind about whether there is adequate parking or not,” he said.

But Brackpool contends that parking is not the problem the critics say it is. And even if it were, the impact of 150 more members would be negligible. Brackpool is also hoping a parking study due out before the hearing will bolster his contention.

The city’s director of community development, Byron Woosley, agrees. In an October memo, Woosley told the city Planning Commission that he saw “no correlation between membership limit and land-use issues such as parking.” The commission approved the club request for a membership increase.

If Brackpool loses in his bid for more members, he says a jump in monthly dues to members will be likely. Beyond that, he would not elaborate.