HUNTINGTON BEACH : Official Will Ask for a Special Election

A top city official said Friday he will ask the City Council to schedule an election for voters to approve or reject a proposed 21-acre, multimillion-dollar youth sports and recreation complex in Huntington Central Park.

The planned sports complex was a pivotal issue during debate over Measure C, a slow-growth City Charter amendment approved by voters in November. The measure requires that voters decide the fate of any proposed lease or sale of park or beach land for a development of 3,000 square feet or more, or costing more than $100,000.

The complex is expected to be the first development proposal to be forced to a citywide vote because of the new law.

Jim Engle, the city’s acting community services director, said he plans to ask council members at their Feb. 19 meeting whether to call a special election for the sports facility or place the proposal on the June, 1992, ballot, the next scheduled general election.

If the council opts for a special election, which officials estimate would cost the city about $100,000, it would likely be held in either June or November of this year, Engle said.

Although the initiative became law last December, Engle said he has delayed seeking council action on an election date for the development while City Atty. Gail C. Hutton finishes drafting a legal opinion on whether the law will force an election on the sports complex.

Hutton said this week that her staff is still finalizing the document but acknowledged publicly for the first time that the proposed sports complex requires voter approval.

“We will be advising (Engle’s office) they had better set the proposal for a (citywide) vote,” Hutton said.

The centerpiece of the planned youth sports development, proposed for undeveloped land west of the intersection of Golden West Street and Talbert Avenue in Huntington Central Park, is a $2.2-million, 16-acre complex that includes six baseball-softball diamonds, four football-soccer fields and a parking lot. The development would also include night lighting, but for areas of the complex that have not yet been specified, Engle said.

Immediately south of the 10 fields would be a 5-acre complex of indoor facilities that including a gymnastics center, recreation center, multipurpose gymnasium and an Olympic-sized swimming pool.

The city would likely pay most or all of the project’s cost through general obligation bonds, Engle said. A private group would lease the parkland from the city for the development.

Tom Duchene, spokesman for the group promoting the outdoor sports complex, led last fall’s campaign against Measure C. He consistently berated the premise of the Charter amendment, arguing it would impose a costly, drawn-out political campaign to build the youth facility, which city officials widely acknowledge is sorely needed in the area.

“We have always hoped that the effort to build a youth sports facility would not be reduced to a political battle . . . but that very thing has happened,” Duchene said Friday. “We’re still very committed to building a youth sports complex, and we will work with all sides to accomplish that.”

Duchene said he will seek a special election in order to reduce project delays.

Development Proposal Proposed Outdoor youth sports complex 16-acre undeveloped land Proposed Gymnastics center, multipurpose gymnasium, Olympic-sized pool 5-acre site