Saddleback Trustees Tell Riptide to Play Ball
MISSION VIEJO — Minor league baseball is coming to south Orange County this spring, following a vote Monday giving the Long Beach Riptide a one-year lease to play at Saddleback College.
“We will show Mission Viejo what minor league baseball is all about,†team General Manager Paula Pyers said after the 6-1 vote by trustees of the Saddleback Community College District.
The lease commits Mission Viejo to spend $800,000 to renovate Saddleback’s ball field and erect temporary lights and bleachers in time for the Riptide’s May 23 home opener.
During the months of negotiations with the ball team and district, City Manager Dan Joseph said, “There were times where I thought that this day would be a slam dunk, and other times where I thought it would never happen. Now that it’s over, the relief is starting to give away to excitement.â€
The Mission Viejo City Council approved the lease last month.
“I think this will be a great experiment for us,†district Chancellor Robert Lombardi said. “It will be a very positive thing to have the community [coming to ballgames] here on campus.â€
The agreement also calls for the city to commission an environmental study, the last remaining hurdle to plans for a $6-million ballpark at the college that would be the Riptide’s permanent home.
“This is a cautious beginning,†said Trustee Dorothy Fortune. “I don’t how that report will turn out.â€
But approving the temporary lease had obvious benefits, she said.
“We will wind up with a beautiful new field no matter how [the environmental report] turns out,†she said.
A negative environmental report could still derail the planned 4,500-seat ballpark. The report will likely be completed by mid-February, Joseph said.
The stadium idea has been opposed by the college Academic Senate, a group of instructors who say they haven’t received enough financial information about the project.
A small group of residents living near the hilltop campus say they are concerned about traffic that would be attracted by a minor league team.
But unlike previous meetings at which several teachers and residents spoke against the ballpark, only one neighbor showed up on Monday, to express reservations about potential traffic problems.
The city plans to install a traffic signal at the entrance to the college, and Joseph said most of the team’s games will be held during the summer when classes are out.
The Riptide have played for two seasons in Long Beach, winning the independent Western Baseball League title both years.
But Riptide officials said they weren’t getting enough revenue from parking and concessions in Long Beach or priority dates for the ballpark.
Team officials contacted Mission Viejo and several other South County cities in July about relocating to the area.
Three months later, the city approved a tentative contract with the Riptide for a 25-year lease that would give Mission Viejo a percentage of ticket, parking and concession sales.
In return, Mission Viejo is guaranteeing the ballclub season ticket sales of at least 1,800 seats per game for the life of the lease, which amounts to about $500,000 for the 45 games per year played at home. The Riptide can buy out of the lease after 10 years for $300,000.
The new stadium would be financed by the city through redevelopment agency funds and a portion of ticket and concession sales.
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