OJAI : School District Settles Baseball Flap

The Ojai Unified School District has reached a tentative settlement with residents who have complained about dust, noise and foul balls dropping into their yards from a youth baseball field at Nordhoff High School.

The agreement permits the Ojai Pony League to continue to use fields at Nordhoff High for baseball games, but it relocates one of the two fields to the interior of the campus and away from the homeowners’ property line, said Supt. Andrew Smidt of Ojai Unified.

That creates a 350-foot buffer zone between the homeowners on La Paz Drive and the nearest ball field used by the league, significantly reducing the noise and dust that have been cited as problems, Smidt said. During play this spring, the distance between the homes and the closest field was 30 feet, he said.

Teams from Nordhoff High will still be allowed to use the nearest field because their playing time is limited to a few days during the school year. By contrast, the Pony League has 500 youth players who compete every weeknight and Saturdays during a seven-week season.

The agreement must be ratified by district trustees, because Ojai Unified permits the Pony League to play on property owned by the district, Smidt said. The board is expected to approve the settlement at its Aug. 18 meeting.

A Pony League official said he is happy with the compromise. A representative of the homeowners, who threatened to sue the district unless changes were made, could not be reached for comment.