Ocean View urged to sell

Jenny Marder

An overwhelming majority of residents at a public hearing last week

urged the Ocean View School District to sell its property on the

Bolsa Chica Mesa.

The school district began studying the possibility of declaring

the 15-acre plot, which has sat unused for nearly 40 years, as

surplus after state officials in February asked if they would

consider selling the land.

Wildlife Conservation Board representative Randy Nelson proposed

that the state buy the land with Proposition 50 funds.

Proposition 50, the Water Security, Clean Drinking Water and

Coastal and Beach Protection Act, includes a commitment by the state

to restore, purchase and protect wetlands areas. A portion of

Proposition 50 funds are specifically earmarked to buy land in the

Bolsa Chica.

An advisory committee was formed in March to study options for the

property. The committee will make a recommendation to the school

board at its May 6 meeting.

Ocean View’s property is on the lower mesa, west of Pacific Coast

Highway, directly north of Los Patos Avenue and sits in the middle of

240 acres owned by Signal Landmark. The school district bought the

property in 1966. At the time, they anticipated building an

elementary and middle school there to serve a growing population.

“They felt if the area was fully developed, it would generate

enough students to need an elementary school,” said Carol Stocker,

the district’s chief operations and facilities officer.

Development in the area is unlikely, and the district already owns

several closed school sites.

Residents cited the economic and environmental benefits of selling

the land and voiced concerns about student safety since the site sits

along the Newport-Inglewood fault.

“It is not a place where you want to put schoolchildren,” said

Huntington Beach resident Dean Albright, a member of the Bolsa Chica

Land Trust.

About 40 attended last week’s public hearing, which lasted 40

minutes.

The traffic on Warner Avenue also makes the streets that surround

the property an unsafe area for students to walk or ride bikes to

school, said resident Julie Bixby, also a member of the Land Trust,

who referred to the site as “an abundantly problematic location.”

“Every student would have to be bussed or driven in,” she said.

Bixby also pointed out that the site is surrounded by sensitive

habitat that could get disrupted during construction.

Gloria Treece, a science and math teacher at Spring View Middle

School, said she would like to see the space remain undeveloped for

the possible use of field science classes in case budget cuts

eliminate current programs.

“Keeping the Bolsa Chica open would allow us to utilize an area in

case [field science programs] are taken away from us,” Treece said.

District officials determined that there is no need to add another

school to the district, based on a study that concluded that the

existing schools are large enough to accommodate the growth of the

student body in the coming years, Supt. James Tarwater said.

The study estimated the district’s growth over the next five

years, including students who could move into proposed development

projects, such as Parkside Estates and Brightwater.

Bixby suggested that proceeds from sale of the land be used for

improvements on the existing schools.

The committee will reach a decision on a recommendation at its

next meeting, which will be at 7 p.m. Wednesday at the Ocean View

School District Headquarters, 17200 Pinehurst Lane.

* JENNY MARDER covers City Hall. She can be reached at (714)

965-7173 or by e-mail at jenny.marder@latimes.com.