Green Space: Yes on M

A declining school enrollment often poses problems that go well beyond the school board’s jurisdiction. The situation at the Zoeter School site in the heart of Seal Beach is a good example.

The 4.9-acre school at the corner of Pacific Coast Highway and 12th Street has been declared surplus property by the Los Alamitos Unified School District and put up for sale.

It presently is being used as a ball field, and part of the site houses a child-care center serving more than 200 families.

If it is sold the city will be able to retain the baseball diamonds, but the rest of the land will be developed according to the new owner’s plans.

The City Council doesn’t want to see that happen. The field has been used for recreation by residents for more than 50 years. The city wants to keep the field and the day-care center and open space. But it lacks the money to buy the land from the school district. The council has set some funds aside, but they are not enough.

The answer is on the Nov. 4 ballot in the form of Measure M, a $1.95-million bond issue. If voters approve that bond issue, the city can purchase at least two-thirds of the surplus school site, maybe even all of it.

According to city calculations, if voters approve the bond issue the typical property owner in a pre-Proposition 13 home (purchased before 1978) would only pay about $6 more per year in taxes. Leisure World residents would pay even less.

The cost to the community is small compared to the cost of opportunity and recreational open space lost forever. Measure M needs a two-thirds vote Nov. 4 for passage. Seal Beach residents should be sure that it gets it.