Neighbors’ Battle Over Navy Hospital Property Escalates : Development: Lakewood votes to spend another $100,000 in fighting proposed mall. Long Beach officials criticize interference.

A battle between the cities of Long Beach and Lakewood over plans for the soon-to-be-closed Long Beach Naval Hospital intensified this week.

Lakewood City Council members voted to pump $100,000 into a fight against Long Beach’s plan to develop a shopping mall on the hospital site. Lakewood has already spent $71,000 on consultants and travel expenses to fight the proposal.

Long Beach City Manager James C. Hankla sent a letter in all residents’ utility bills, complaining of Lakewood’s interference.

At issue is the future of the Naval Hospital on Carson Street just west of the San Gabriel River (605) Freeway. The Navy plans to close the hospital at the end of the year and dispose of the property, about 70 acres just across the street from the boundary between the two cities.

Long Beach dreams of creating a high-volume mall on the site with warehouse stores and outlet shops. City officials estimate the redevelopment would create 3,000 jobs and bring more than $1.5 million to the city in property taxes. If successful, the mall could also bring an estimated $2.9 million in sales tax to Long Beach, officials say.

But Lakewood leaders say a new mall in the area would seriously damage business at the nearby Lakewood Center Mall, a major source of tax revenue for that city. In an effort to head off Long Beach’s plans, Lakewood officials hired consultants specializing in government affairs--including a former Department of Defense employee who directed a base closure commission--lobbied the Pentagon and paid for economic impact studies.

The additional $100,000 will extend the city’s contract with consultants and retain a law firm specializing in environmental impact reports, Waldie said.

The Lakewood council is supporting a bid by the Los Angeles County Office of Education to acquire the property for a new headquarters and training center. The agency provides special education classes, teacher training and other services countywide.

Lakewood has also enlisted the support of neighboring Hawaiian Gardens. The cities contend that the proposed mall would not help the area’s stagnant economy but just draw customers from stores in nearby communities.

All this has made Long Beach officials nervous enough to spend $5,000 on their letter to residents, soliciting support for hospital redevelopment plans.

“If the city of Lakewood succeeds in blocking our development plan . . . Long Beach will lose over $3 million, which would pay for 60 additional police officers,” Hankla’s letter says.

To counteract Lakewood, Hankla asked residents to “make every purchase possible within the city,” to help boost sales tax revenue and support the city’s redevelopment plans.

Navy officials will make the final decision on how the hospital property should be used. The pending closure of the hospital, the Long Beach Naval Station and other local naval facilities is the result of a major cutback in the U.S. military prompted by the end of the Cold War and the need to reduce government spending.

Long Beach will lose a total of 17,000 military and 1,300 civilian jobs and about $1 billion a year in economic benefits, city officials say.