Deal May Save 6 O.C. Little League Fields

Six months after voting to sell six Little League diamonds for residential development, the financially strapped Fountain Valley School District has reached a tentative compromise with the city of Huntington Beach that could save the fields from bulldozers.

Under the deal presented to Huntington Beach City Council members Friday, the school district would give the city 5.2 acres of open space to retain as baseball fields at the closed Wardlow Elementary School, which comprises about 15 acres.

In exchange, the city would expedite development approval for the remaining land at Wardlow and for the 13-acre grounds of the former Lamb Elementary School so the land could more easily be sold to developers.

The deal must be approved by the City Council and school district trustees, but officials at both were optimistic.

“This allows us to preserve the value of the [surplus campus] property,” said District Supt. Marc Ecker. “The planning process can sometimes take two years, and time is money for us. We think it’s a good faith effort that helps everyone.”

In February, the school district board voted to sell three elementary school sites that had been closed for decades because of declining enrollment: Wardlow, the site of the baseball fields; Lamb, which has soccer facilities; and Nieblas, which is to be sold but is not included in the proposed deal. That meant Huntington Beach would lose baseball and soccer fields.

Under the proposed agreement, the soccer fields would be relocated to Talbert Middle School. Between 126 to 132 homes could be built on the remaining portion of Wardlow and the Lamb site, comprising about 28 acres.

Huntington Beach officials said the city could have offered to buy the district’s surplus land, valued at tens of millions of dollars. Under state law governing the sale of land between public agencies, Huntington Beach could buy the land for 25% of its market value.

But “even at a discount, it’s a lot of money for a city to cough up,” said Huntington Beach Councilman Don Hansen. “This compromise is a good way of not having to go down that road. With our city nearly built out, every square foot of open space is very valuable ... especially ones with nice youth fields on it.”

The Wardlow baseball fields, at Pioneer Drive and Magnolia Street, are a popular Little League venue. For years, the diamonds have been leased to the Huntington Valley Little League, which received a $200,000 donation from Major League Baseball and a children’s foundation operated by retired player Mark McGwire. The money was used for bleachers, an electronic scoreboard, resurfaced infields and enclosed brick dugouts.

Little League board member Renee Aumiller said she was pleased with the plan to save the fields.

“I was resigned to thinking our league was going to have come up with another field,” she said. “I had no idea the battle could be won.”

City officials said the fields might have to be reconfigured to accommodate residential development on the rest of the campus. Alan Gandall, who formed a group to save the ball fields, said he worried that because of the reconfiguration, the 5.2 acres might not be enough for six fields as the area is filled with homes and condominiums.

“We’re coming up short -- about 2 acres short,” Gandall estimated.

School district officials said the sale of the Wardlow, Lamb and Nieblas sites could bring the agency about $80 million. Some of the proceeds would be used to increase teacher salaries, which are among the lowest in Orange County, they said.