COSTA MESA : City, Schools Agree to Share Playing Fields

More soccer fields, baseball diamonds and basketball courts may soon be available for Costa Mesa residents as the City Council this week adopted an agreement with the Newport-Mesa Unified School District to share school playing fields.

Hailed as a “historic agreement,” the plan allows city-sponsored and private groups to use the school facilities in exchange for the city maintaining the fields and equipment.

Under the terms of the contract unanimously approved by the council, the city can use the fields and support facilities, such as parking lots, at 24 district schools.

“I think we are working on the right track,” said Mike Dunn who, as a representative of various youth sports, helped craft the agreement. “It is not any specific spot. . . . What we want is safe, good athletic facilities in the city for the kids.”

With the approval of the agreement, the city can now begin setting up separate agreements at each school.

These would detail how much money the city would give for upkeep and improvements.

Dunn expressed concern that these agreements would take a long time to execute, leaving the already impacted sports teams without fields longer than necessary.

However, the city staff has indicated that it is ready to proceed with agreements at some schools, including Costa Mesa and Estancia high schools, TeWinkle Intermediate School, Kaiser and California elementary schools and Parsons Special Education Center.

The agreement, which has been in the works for more than a year, is in response to a study that found Costa Mesa lacking in open space and parks.

Because the city is almost completely built out, the results left the council with little choice, short of bulldozing existing development to make room for neighborhood parks.

The joint-use plan was seen as the best solution.

“We do believe it is preferable to the city seeking to acquire private property and convert it to public use,” said City Manager Allan L. Roeder.

The city has already put aside about $250,000 to spruce up the school facilities and has indicated that more funds would follow.

Roeder said that the city’s share of funding would be more than $1 million over several years.

However, these details have yet to be worked out and will be included in the separate site agreements, which the council will approve on an individual basis.

“There is a great deal of work to be done,” Roeder said.