Diamonds in the Rough

Little Leaguers from Culver City and Los Angeles have cavorted on four ragtag fields on the edge of the Ballona Wetlands for 40 years, ever since Howard Hughes opened up a portion of his expansive property to the young players.

Now, however, efforts to restore the wetlands -- one of the last remaining on the Southern California coast -- have put the Playa Vista Little League’s future in jeopardy.

Environmentalists, who for decades have pushed to return the Ballona Wetlands to their natural state, want the ball fields removed. They contend that every sliver of the land, including the four acres of ball fields, should be restored as wetlands or related habitat.

The campaign has caused anxiety among the league’s 300 youngsters, who are primarily Latino and largely from low-income families.

“We’ve played here forever,” said Griselda Silva, mother of two ballplayers, as she sat on battered wooden bleachers watching the sun set on a girls softball game one recent afternoon. As mothers and fathers followed the action, younger siblings romped nearby, chasing lizards.

“If they take the league away, it’ll break all the kids’ hearts,” said David Sandoval, 9.

The dispute has been bubbling for months. Wetlands activists, who cast themselves as the good guys in land-use battles, are finding themselves in a difficult position this time. They realize that fighting Mom and apple pie -- in the form of youngsters wielding bats, balls and mitts -- requires a bit more finesse than battling big developers.

“Nobody wants to get on the wrong side of the politics,” said John Crosse, a Playa del Rey activist. But, he added, “It’s common sense that [the ball fields] could be more appropriately located than in the middle of an ecological preserve.”

The debate could come to a head next month, when the state Department of Fish and Game plans to propose that the state designate the Ballona Wetlands an ecological reserve. The Fish and Game Commission is expected to vote on the designation in August.

The properties have been publicly owned since December 2003, when the state completed its $139-million purchase of 192 acres of degraded wetlands from the developers of the sprawling Playa Vista development south of Marina del Rey. Playa Vista also agreed to donate hundreds of other acres and to waive its right to develop the property near Culver and Lincoln boulevards that the ball fields occupy.

Environmentalists argue that keeping the ball fields would hinder the state’s effort to restore the wetlands.

Removing the fields, they maintain, would leave a larger uninterrupted area available for habitat, a situation that would enable a greater variety of plants and animals to thrive.

In addition, Marcia Hanscom, executive director of Wetlands Action Network, and others have expressed concern that the league’s recently installed irrigation system and any fertilizer use might upset the balance of an ecological reserve.

These activists want the Playa Vista developers to donate land in their community and build new ball fields for the league.

But Playa Vista is balking, saying it has already contributed enough land for public use.

“Seventy percent of the land here has been [sold or] given away or dedicated as open space,” said Steve Soboroff, Playa Vista’s president. “On the other 30% we’re building homes.... We don’t have any more land to give away.”

Soboroff, a former city parks commissioner, said he realized that ball fields throughout Los Angeles are at a premium. Still, he said, the Playa Vista Little League, despite its name, has “no right to that land. Why not just tear down some buildings in the marina [to build fields]? Or [build] one where the Greek Theatre is and the Disney Concert Hall?”

Near-term plans for Playa Vista include construction of an eight-acre sports park near the development’s southwest corner. It would feature an adjustable mix of baseball, soccer and football fields as well as basketball and paddle tennis courts.

But Soboroff said those fields would not be dedicated to one Little League.

“What about the general public? What about people who want to play soccer and parents who want a place to go and hang out?” he said. “Everybody has rights.”

The Playa Vista Little League has no official affiliation with the development.

Most of the players come from nearby areas that are less tony than Playa Vista’s mostly high-end homes, condos and apartments. But league officials adopted the name several years ago in a not-so-subtle bid for support from the developers.

It is true, however, that the development has nurtured the league. Over the years, Playa Vista has provided the league with nearly $270,000 in cash and maintenance and repair services.

“This is high-stakes,” said Sal Gamboa, a past president of the Playa Vista Little League who still volunteers. “We’re trying not to alienate anybody.”

For the moment, the state has no plans to boot out the league, said Chuck Raysbrook, a regional manager with the Department of Fish and Game, which would manage the ecological reserve.

But at some point the state must decide whether ball fields can coexist with restored wetlands.

Environmentalists are avoiding taking on the Little League directly, aiming their fire for now at Playa Vista for failing to offer the young players a home.

“The last group of people that anybody would want to take on in a public debate is Little League parents and kids,” said Mark Gold, executive director of Heal the Bay and father of two Little Leaguers. “It’s very important that the environmental community and the Little League community get together to try to solve this.”