Arcadia residents packed a public meeting this week to confront Santa Anita Park over a plan that would clear 34 protected oak trees and disturb the root zones of 45 more, all to make way for a cross-country course built for the 2028 Los Angeles Olympics. The proposal, tied to the racetrack's selection as the Games' equestrian venue, has become a flashpoint in a city that has branded itself around its urban canopy for more than three decades.
The City of Arcadia issued a Notice of Pending Decision in August 2026 for Santa Anita's permit application, filed under case numbers TRH 26-11 and TRE 26-09, according to the City of Arcadia. The filing details plans to remove 33 Coast Live Oaks and one rare Engelmann Oak, while encroaching on the root zones of 45 additional protected trees near the racetrack's north parking lot and the Lower Rancho neighborhood. As reported by ABC7 Los Angeles, Santa Anita held a public meeting in Arcadia on Thursday to walk residents through the proposal, and pushback was immediate.
Resident Dennis Cosso told the outlet he was perturbed because he likes the trees and believes some may be as old as 150 years. Other attendees questioned the project's environmental impact outright, with one calling the proposal's environmental presentation greenwashing, per the same account. Jessica Richards, another opponent, said she and others intend to pursue every option available to fight the plan.
A CEQA Exemption Fuels Suspicion
Part of what has residents on edge is the legal route Santa Anita is taking. The permit application seeks exemption from environmental review under California Environmental Quality Act Guidelines Sections 15301, 15323, and 15332, categories covering minor alterations, normal operations of existing facilities, and in-fill development, according to the city's filing. That request to skip a full environmental study, rather than the tree removal itself, is fueling much of the community's distrust that the project is being fast-tracked around scrutiny.
Arcadia's tree protections are not casual guidelines. Under Arcadia Municipal Code Chapter 7, enacted through Ordinance No. 2323 and Ordinance No. 2338, native oak and sycamore trees are strictly protected resources that cannot be removed or encroached upon without a city permit and a written arborist evaluation, per the city. Arcadia has been designated a Tree City USA by the Arbor Day Foundation continuously since 1993, with municipal crews and contractors managing roughly 15,000 public trees across its parks, rights-of-way, and medians, the city notes.
Why the Course Landed at Santa Anita
Santa Anita was not the original pick for LA28 equestrian events. The LA28 Organizing Committee and the International Olympic Committee selected the Arcadia track as the equestrian venue in April 2025 after abruptly dropping Galway Downs in Temecula, a site the Los Angeles City Council had approved just weeks earlier, according to The Sports Examiner. That switch meant venue planners had to fit a full cross-country course onto a working thoroughbred racetrack on a compressed timeline. The International Federation for Equestrian Sports appointed British course designer Alec Lochore, who served as Eventing Manager at the London 2012 and Tokyo 2020 Games, to design the layout, per Inside FEI.
Santa Anita hosted Olympic dressage and show jumping during the 1984 Los Angeles Games, but cross-country eventing back then took place off-site at Fairbanks Ranch in San Diego County, according to Eurodressage. The 2028 Games will mark the first time all six equestrian disciplines are staged at a single venue, which is what has pushed the cross-country footprint directly onto the Arcadia property. The equestrian competitions are scheduled to run from July 14 through July 30, 2028, with the eventing cross-country phase set for a single day, Monday, July 17, 2028.
Both Sides Point to Safety and Legacy
LA28 and Santa Anita representatives have said the tree removal is necessary for equestrian safety on the course, per ABC7's reporting. Santa Anita has said it modified the course to reduce environmental impact while keeping equine and human athletes safe, and the track plans to plant new trees to replace any oaks removed. Ashlyn Moore, speaking for the project, said the course will remain in place after the 2028 Games and could enable more types of horse sport at Santa Anita Park going forward.
Opponents are not convinced that replacement saplings make up for what would be lost. Community members argue that swapping decades-old, mature oaks for young nursery trees does not offset the canopy, shade, and wildlife habitat the originals provide, a concern echoed in public comments gathered around the proposal. LA28 has said it has not yet made a decision on the best path forward for the eventing cross-country course, according to a statement from the organization, and is working with the City of Arcadia, Santa Anita Park, and the international federation to address community concerns.
Santa Anita will have the opportunity to modify its application to the city or leave it unchanged as the review process continues. The open question now is whether the track submits a revised layout that routes around the protected root zones, or whether Arcadia's planning division ultimately requires a full CEQA environmental impact assessment before any permits are issued. Opponents, including Richards, say they intend to keep fighting the plan regardless of which direction the city takes.
