Rancho Santa Fe Choosing Sides for Game of Hardball Over Field

Is a Grinch loose in Rancho Santa Fe and threatening to destroy the Field of Dreams?

A lot of people think so.

The local civility index has taken a sharp downturn: replaced by hard glances at the golf course, rudeness at Quimby’s restaurant, angry petitions, in-your-face postcards and a good deal of how-dare-you rhetoric.

At issue is a lawsuit by 25 property owners to force the closure of Aardema Field, that jewel of a sporting green that has been used for youth soccer and baseball for two decades.

The grass is lush and well-tended; the surrounding hills provide brushy protection; the riding stables next door add to the woodsy ambience.

Use is by permit only, non-ranch residents need not apply.

The flap started three years ago when the Rancho Santa Fe Assn., the homeowners’ group that largely governs the upscale community, decided to buy some adjacent acres to expand Aardema to five fields from the current three.

Neighbors objected. True, by average suburban standards, Aardema is hardly cheek-by-jowl with homes. But Rancho Santa Fe is not your average suburb.

The neighbors discovered that, under the property covenant that governs life and liberty on The Ranch, the existing 17.5-acre Aardema Field site on Rambla de las Flores has never been zoned for a playing field.

The association board of directors, stung by its real estate gaffe, dropped the expansion plan and began looking to buy elsewhere. Negotiations began over limiting playing hours at Aardema.

Then, to the amazement of many, the neighbors two weeks ago played their trump card: filing suit to force the association to close Aardema and either use the acreage for open space or sell it for estate homes. They also want legal fees and damages.

Opposing homeowners and leaders of youth sports organizations are, to use a technical phrase, mad as hell.

“How could these selfish people want to kick kids off the field?” asked Roger Desmarais, co-commissioner of the Rancho Santa Fe Little League. “It’s like saying no to motherhood, apple pie, the flag, patriotism. A small band of people is trying to run the entire ranch.”

Melodie and James Rice, two of the plaintiffs, are possibly the closest neighbors to the field. The expansion would have brought the field to within 120 feet of their home.

Melodie Rice said her children, now grown, used Aardema Field, and there were no problems. But use has increased sharply in recent years, bringing more noise, traffic and litter, she said.

“We are not against children, but we are in favor of protecting the covenant,” she said. “Who says children need a $1-million field at the expense of people who live around the field?”

Rice says the social pressure from the pro-Aardema side is mounting: “A lot of people have lost their cool.”

To the contrary, Desmarais says, it’s the suing neighbors who won’t listen to reason.

As president of Corporate Systemics of Del Mar, he makes a living consulting for companies having communication problems and other internal woes. He helped coordinate the inter-agency response to Three Mile Island.

“Three Mile Island was a lot easier than this,” he said. “There we were only dealing with nuclear waste. In Rancho Santa Fe, we’re dealing with people’s kids and property values.”

Talk of the Town

Compared to other campuses of the University of California--particularly Davis, Berkeley and Riverside--UC San Diego has not played a central role in shaping its hometown.

That may be changing.

On Saturday, UCSD Extension will begin “The San Diego Dialogue,” to bring scholars together with leaders in business, finance, the arts and the media to discuss social, economic and cultural problems facing the region.

Among the 52: Chancellor Richard Atkinson, financier Malin Burnham, art patron Danah Fayman, builder Ernie Hahn and retired admiral Ray Peet.

Several sessions are planned in coming months, leading to a public session.

“What we’re looking for,” said William McGill, adjunct professor of psychology and former UCSD chancellor, “is a non-political activity that is more rational than the theater of confrontation that seems to have captured the public process of late.”