Costa Mesa officials work with Newport-Mesa Unified to open school fields for public use

Costa Mesans seeking opportunities to recreate, particularly on the city’s west side, will soon be able to find more options, after city officials and Newport-Mesa Unified School District agreed to open certain school fields to the public after hours.

The Costa Mesa City Council Tuesday approved hiring a full-time park ranger and to enhance the city’s contract with Lyons Security Services to allow for public use of lands at Rea, Wilson, Whittier and potentially Pomona elementary schools when classes are not in session.

NMUSD officials have also agreed to remove a temporary fence installed this summer outside its Harper Assessment Center near Harper Park, which serves special education students and houses ISSAC Charter school, as part of a six-month pilot program.

Whittier Elementary School students at a Great California Shakeout event in October. The west-side Costa Mesa campus will soon open its fields to wider public use after school, thanks to an agreement between Newport-Mesa Unified School District and city leaders.

(File Photo)

Deputy City Manager Alma Reyes said the two parties have held multiple discussions on how to improve access to open space, particularly in west-side neighborhoods where children have fewer outdoor amenities.

According to a longstanding joint-use agreement between the city and Newport-Mesa, public user groups must seek permits through the city to reserve fields in advance on weekends and during after-school hours. Residents otherwise are not permitted on school grounds.

The change would allow for a broader, more generalized use of the fields when they’re not already being used for youth sports, Reyes told council members Tuesday.

“Opening these school fields would provide the public use during off-school hours and weekends, when not reserved by a permitted user group,” she said. “This would help meet the demand for open space on the west side.”

In exchange for expanded use of the space, city officials have agreed to foot the bill for monitoring the campuses when in use by the public.

Students walk to class at Wilson Elementary School in June 2022. The Costa Mesa campus is one of several whose fields will soon open to wider public use after school hours.

(File Photo)

A full-time park ranger, whose annual salary will cost the city $126,170, will be posted near Harper Park during the pilot program, while Costa Mesa officials will negotiate with Lyons — which currently operates under a $300,000 annual contract — to pay for additional patrolling of the west-side campuses.

Lance Bidnick, an administrative director who oversees maintenance and operations for NMUSD, said the city pays roughly $200,000 a year to the district for the upkeep of fields as part of the joint-use agreement.

The district also has access to city-owned land and amenities, such as the tennis courts and sports fields at TeWinkle Park, although with 7.5 million square feet of landscaped space under its ownership, Newport-Mesa’s demands for shared space is typically outpaced by the city’s need.

“The city really doesn’t have a lot of green space, so there’s not a lot of need [on our part],” Bidnick said in an interview Thursday. “But because they don’t have green space, they have a tremendous need.”

Bidnick explained the fence near Harper Park was installed earlier this summer as a means of accommodating field maintenance but also keeping kids on campus safe during the school day.

News

Costa Mesa, NMUSD field questions about new fence at Harper Park keeping public out

Regular users of Harper Park were recently startled to discover a fence blocking entry to the property’s wide open fields with no explanation. Now officials are speaking up.

June 8, 2023

“We couldn’t have our kids out there to play because people had dogs running off leash, or kids were playing in the field and they were coming across droppings — it was just a big sanitation issue,” he added.

As part of the new agreement, the city’s parks and communications teams will work with NMUSD to develop an awareness campaign around responsible pet ownership to supplement the ranger’s presence and posted signage. Both parties will monitor and evaluate the program during and after the pilot program.

Councilman Manuel Chavez, who serves the west-side 4th Council District, said his constituents have historically been in need of more parks.

“This is going to give everyone the same opportunity to have the same access to green space,” he said. “Thank you to everyone who worked on this and to the school district for being confident in moving forward with this. I assure you the community will appreciate it.”