MISSION VIEJO : City to Study Role in Recreation Centers

An overflow crowd of nearly 200 residents has urged the City Council to take over the community’s system of recreation centers instead of selling them to private interests.

After three hours of emotional testimony Monday, the council decided to put off a decision until July while the city staff studies the situation. City Manager Fred Sorsabal said his staff needed the time to determine how a city purchase could be financed and whether the city should run the recreation centers.

“It’s clear that people care deeply about these facilities,” resident Tom Tulis told the council. “It’s important for kids to have a place to go. On behalf of our kids, I request that the city take over the centers.”

The special meeting was called by the council in response to a public uproar last month after residents learned that the Mission Viejo Co.--the owner of the five-center system--had sold a recreation hall last December to a school for children with learning disabilities.

Residents protested the sale of the Sierra Recreation Center, saying the La Monte Acadamie, which currently operates in Laguna Niguel, would create a traffic hazard in the neighborhood.

They also complained of being misled by the Mission Viejo Co., claiming that the developer had used the recreation centers as an inducement to buy into the planned community.

“We moved here because (the recreation centers were) sold as a package,” Jeanne Crandall said. “We invested in the planned community, and we were sold out by the Mission Viejo Co.”

Councilman Robert D. Breton described marketing of the recreation centers in company brochures as a “bait-and-switch tactic.” Breton asked City Atty. Douglas C. Holland to check into possible illegal acts involving the potential sale of the centers.

After the meeting, Mission Viejo Co. spokeswoman Wendy Wetzel said the recreation centers are a private business and the company has the right to sell them.

With the city about 95% built, the Mission Viejo Co. has long publicized its intentions to sell the recreation centers as part of an overall plan to phase out of the community, Wetzel said.

The Sierra center was sold first because it was the smallest of the recreation halls and had the poorest attendance. “We’ve had it on the market for years,” Wetzel added.

Like most of the sites, the Sierra center includes a swimming pool and hot tub, tennis courts, outdoor barbecue, volleyball areas and a small game room. Other recreation centers feature indoor basketball and racquetball courts. The enrollment fee is $70 a month per family.

Clustered near the front rows, a group of about 25 La Monte Acadamie supporters told the audience and the council that they would make good neighbors.

Councilwoman Sharon Cody said the city should “hang on” to the Sierra Center but added that city staff should also help “bring the school to Mission Viejo” in another location.