Following a lengthy discussion, the Hermosa Beach City Council Tuesday night agreed to schedule a public meeting with the Hermosa Beach School Board at the end of the month. The meeting will enable the School Board to review its options for land acquisition with the city and determine whether the City Council may be able to assist it in acquiring adjacent property for the placement of a new gym.

The matter came to the forefront after the School Board’s June 30 meeting after Mayor Michael Keegan announced the Marineland Mobile Home Park is up for sale. School Board members unanimously voted to further examine one architectural plan that would place the gym near the southwest corner of Hermosa Valley’s campus, along with examining the feasibility of purchasing the park through a joint partnership with the city.

“My understanding is that the idea was floated to us as a joint project with the purchase of adjacent land jointly with the city,” said School Board member Cathy McCurdy. “The city would own the land and act as landowners, never with the intent of evicting people from their homes but rather relocating some of the mobile homes to another part of the park to make room for a portion of the gym. Do the numbers play out? That’s all we are asking you to look at. This would be an opportunity for us to create a master plan that would not only serve the needs of the school but of the community as well.”

Dozens of residents from the park attended the meeting to express their concerns about possibly being displaced and evicted from their homes through the eminent domain process for the placement of a gym.

“We make up 2-1/2 percent of the total votes that passed Measure ‘J’,” said resident Geoff Hirsch. “We elected this council to serve us, protect us, not evict us.”

Keegan talked with the land’s real estate broker just days before the School Board meeting, who mentioned a figure of about $6.5 million. Now that the School Board voted to explore the idea of buying it, Keegan proposed a joint venture with the city to his fellow council members at Tuesday’s meeting.

“This deal allows us to continue with our low-income housing without displacing people. We could accommodate the needs of the School District and would only have to relocate seven homes to other areas of the park,” said Keegan. “As landowners, we could make improvements to the area and fix its ongoing drainage problems. This land is up for sale and any owner with any shrewdness who bought it would know the School District is looking for additional land and would carve out a space for it through eminent domain. Residents would be displaced no questions asked, lock, stock and barrel.”

Just minutes before the School Board decision, Keegan informed attendees the land at the mobile home park was in fact up for sale. He suggested the School District explore the idea of buying the property perhaps in conjunction with the city and use a portion of it for a section of the gym so that the open space of Hermosa Valley School is less impacted.

“This is my home; I love it here,” said Marineland resident Roger Logue. “This land is protected for low-income housing. I voted for you people. I respect our government.”

The School Board initially looked at the idea of buying the land now occupied by Adelphia Communications but has since abandoned the venture. The board contended the project would have been too time-consuming since the corporation was in the midst of bankruptcy and too expensive since the School District would have to pay for the company’s relocation.

“This is a sad day and I can’t believe what we’re into, it’s just despicable,” said Councilman Sam Edgerton. “Everyone knows that woman (Marineland owner) has been trying to sell that property for years. It’s no mystery and she’ll evict the residents any way she can. I feel like this is a railroad job under the guise the city should be involved with the School District. I don’t want to kick people out of their homes. Our homes are our castles.”

The School Board hoped to purchase land to appease many residents living on Valley Park Avenue and other nearby streets bordering the western portion of the Hermosa Valley campus as to not impact the nearby neighborhood.

Many residents living in this area who voted for Measure “J,” a $13.6 million bond, felt misled in that they believed land acquisition was a sure thing.

However, measure backers claim this alternative was a possibility and never asserted it to be a certainty. The School District initially considered purchasing the 24,000-square-foot Adelphia property located next door to Hermosa Valley School.

“I know that mobile home park very well,” said Councilman J.R. Reviczky. “I drove by it just the other day, every street, and I’ve been in there to pump out water when it flooded. I’ve heard a lot of issues here tonight: parking, traffic, the gym, Adelphia, and it appears to me that the remedy lies with the School Board. I don’t know why time is of the essence here. I’m happy to assist the School District in any way we can if the School Board needs our expertise, but quite frankly I think this plan to put the gym on the campus is like trying to fit 10 pounds in a 5-pound bag. I certainly sympathize with acquiring more space, but I’m not interested in being a land owner and managing communities in Hermosa Beach.”

Many residents are unhappy with option “B” that places the gym in the southwest corner of the campus. They feel the new facility will generate major parking and traffic problems on their streets.

Most of these same people living in nearby neighborhoods favor scenario “A” that would have put the gym on the southern half of the school’s main parking lot located along Valley Drive. It would require the replacement of lost parking space by building more on the northern portion of the school field.

Many other residents are dissatisfied with both options and urged the School Board to start from scratch with the placement of a gym with a height of between 30 and 33 feet, and a density of between 10,000 and 14,000 square feet. A group of residents unhappy with the recent discussion formed the Committee for Responsible Public School Expansion.