Seal Beach : City Agrees on Purchase of Zoeter School Site

After three years of negotiations, the city has reached an agreement with the Los Alamitos School District to buy the Zoeter School site by July of 1987, City Manager Robert Nelson said.

The city plans to continue using the 4.9-acre property at 12th Street and Pacific Coast Highway for a playing field and two child-care centers, Nelson said. Part of the site has been targeted for commercial development that will generate revenue to help pay for the property, he added.

The city will look for commercial uses that are “compatible” with the present recreational and day-care activities at the site, such as a restaurant or service stores, Nelson said, adding: “We want a place where (parents) will feel comfortable sending their kids to play.”

The city has negotiated for the purchase of the property since the Seal Beach and Los Alamitos school districts merged in 1983. In October, the city purchased one-third of the property, which includes about 80% of the playing field, for $403,000, Nelson said.

In November, after a bond measure to finance the purchase of another portion of the site was rejected by voters, the City Council voted to acquire 40% of the remaining property through the Redevelopment Agency for $1.59 million. The site includes the remainder of the playing field and the two buildings that house the day-care centers.

This week’s agreement with the school district will allow the city to purchase 33% of the property over a 25-year period with an option to agree to purchase the remaining property by July of 1987 for $1.9 million, Nelson said.