Church’s $12-Million Offer Not in the Ballpark : Bids Asked on Land Used by Little League

Los Angeles Community College trustees Wednesday rejected the pleas of Northridge Little League officials and voted to solicit bids from developers on 80 acres of land, part of which the league has used as ball fields for 15 years.

The unanimous vote by trustees of the nine-campus system had the effect of rejecting a $12-million offer for the land. The First Baptist Church of Van Nuys made the offer to the district in December.

Church officials pledged to provide a permanent home for the 1,000-player Little League if they bought the property at Devonshire and Wilbur streets.

To Finance Mission Campus

Proceeds from the sale will finance construction of a permanent campus for Mission College in Sylmar.

“I don’t know how they are going to get rid of us,” league President George Hall said. “We’re squatters, and we have some important persons backing us.”

With rejection of First Baptist’s bid, Hall said, “We now have to depend on Councilman Hal Bernson. All of our hopes are with him.”

In recent years, the Northwest Valley councilman has sought to allay fears of league officials by persuading the council in 1982 to amend the Northridge Community Plan to designate the the 13 acres used by the league as parkland.

The remaining 67 acres are designated for low-density residential development.

League officials fear that a developer would request a change from the parkland designation, but Bernson has vowed to oppose any development proposal that would jeopardize the league’s use of the site.

His statements, however, have failed to satisfy league officials. In recent years, they have conducted several public rallies, including one in October attended by more than 250 residents, in an effort to pressure college trustees to scrap plans to sell the land.

Trustees contend that they have no choice but to sell the property because the Legislature advanced the district construction funds for Mission College on the condition that the state be reimbursed from sale of the land.

Tight Finances

They also say the district’s tight financial condition precludes giving land to the league free or at a reduced rate.

Under state law, the first round of bidding was limited to nonprofit organizations. The next round is open to all groups.

The Rev. James Rives, First Baptist’s associate pastor, said after Wednesday’s vote that the church might enter a bid in competition with developers, “but no decision has been made on that yet.”

First Baptist’s $12-million bid met the minimum price set by trustees. But trustees had specified that all money be paid by June, 1986, and the church offered to pay the money over five years.

Rives said the 10,000-member church would use the property for retirement housing for senior citizens, a performing arts center, a teaching institute and recreation.

The only other nonprofit organization that bid in the first round was the 51st District Agricultural Association, which offered $8 million payable by June, 1986.

The district had wanted the property as a new site for the annual San Fernando Valley Fair, which must move from Devonshire Downs within a few years to make way for expansion of California State University, Northridge.