Council will save ball fields

A deal to save several little league fields using city money appears

set in stone. The deal will preserve open space but may damage the

relationship between the city and a local school district.

Officials from the Fountain Valley School District said they

likely won’t oppose a plan by the Huntington Beach City Council to

purchase six acres of parkland at the old Wardlow school site on

Pioneer Drive, and another two acres at Lamb School, to save portions

of each from residential development. The Wardlow school site is home

to the Huntington Valley Little League.

Relationships between the two sides, however, are at a low point,

following the collapse of a negotiated deal to save a smaller portion

of parkland at no cost to the city.

“I don’t know that there was a good feeling at any point in time,”

Assistant Supt. of Business Barry Blade said. “It doesn’t seem like

there is a good relationship there.”

The controversial debate about the site was marked by personal

insults flung at district officials by some council members, a short

school district public hearing process, and the high profile

dismissal of a city employee who had tailored a failed deal to save

the parkland.

Some Huntington Beach residents, such as Alan Gandall, a real

estate broker turned land activist, said many residents and city

officials felt dismayed during February’s Fountain Valley School

Board meeting when board members unanimously approved a plan to

declare the school sites surplus without any debate or explanation.

“It wasn’t done right,” Gandall said. “They didn’t leave any room

to discuss it. They just voted on it, and it passed, and then it was

over.”

News of the vote came as the Huntington Beach City School District

announced it was also looking at closing schools and considering

selling four sites throughout the city. After angry rhetoric back and

forth, the city and the Fountain Valley district agreed to enter into

negotiations to look at what could be done to save parts of Wardlow

and Lamb.

On the table were city concerns about open space, and district

officials wanted promises to expedite the permitting process and help

getting the maximum value for the property so it could invest the

money and collect from the interest.

In the end, the school district agreed to hand over 5.2 acres of

parkland at Wardlow in exchange for help rezoning the park. Blade

said former Huntington Beach Planning Director Howard Zelefsky was

instrumental in negotiating the deal.

“I thought we were working very pragmatically with Howard

Zelefsky. He was knowledgeable and very pragmatic,” Blade said.

But when the plan was presented to the city, Councilman Don Hansen

asked city staff to send the proposal back to the drawing board in

hopes of securing a little more land to save all the ball fields. At

that same meeting, the council voted, 6-1, to place Zelefsky on

30-day administrative leave.

With Zelefsky out of the picture, negotiations took a notable turn

for the worse.

“I don’t know if there was a misunderstanding, I just think the

school board felt it was a historic effort to try and solve something

by giving away property and perhaps misunderstood the council’s

remarks,” Councilman Dave Sullivan said.

A few days after the council meeting, an attorney hired by the

school district sent city officials and angry letter canceling

negotiations and rescinding its offer to give away part of the land.

“The school district is concerned that even the 5.2-acre ...

[offer] is perhaps too generous given the project risks,” attorney

Andreas Chialtas wrote. “The district’s comfort level at this time

with respect to the property dedication is perhaps a maximum of 4.3

acres of the Wardlow site.”

That letter prompted fiery response from City Attorney Jennifer

McGrath and a special closed session meeting of the City Council.

When the council members emerged, they announced plans to use a state

law to purchase a portion of the property at a fraction of its market

value.

Using loans and money from a park acquisition fund, the city will

purchase about 8.6 acres of parkland for between $3 million and $4

million, without any promises to help with the permitting process.

Both sides contend the purchase agreement was a better deal.

The city gets to save all the ball fields and purchase property at

a significantly lower cost, while limiting the number of homes that

can go on the site, Hansen said after the meeting.

The school district gets some limited compensation for the

parkland and no responsibilities to relocate displaced ball fields.

It also plans to drop a bid to try and rezone the property, opting to

let the future developer deal with the city.

“That group won’t have the history of the relationship that we now

have,” Blade said.

As for the possibility of returning to the negotiating table,

Blade said that opportunity is over.

“There is nothing to negotiate at this time,” he said. “They have

made their decision.”

Sullivan disagreed.

“That’s not our choice,” he said. “I think there’s always a chance

to go back to the table.”