Why the exchange is happening<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
The infield at the Lomita Sports and Community Center.<\/p>\n
(<\/p>\n
Courtesy city of Lomita<\/p>\n
)<\/p>\n
Right now, Lomita officials don\u2019t have the keys to the fenced-off field, so the land is not regularly open to the public.<\/p>\n
The decision was sparked by changes at the Department of Defense during President Donald Trump\u2019s first term.<\/p>\n
For decades, nonprofit sports teams were able to lease the land for little to no cost. One of those teams, Lomita Little League, still plays on the grounds. But that agreement changed in 2020.<\/p>\n
The department wanted to move away from working with community groups and was going to increase usage fees. Congress members pushed back, saying the change would\u2019ve priced teams out. They secured language in federal legislation that allowed the Navy to offload the land.<\/p>\n
\u201c\u200aWe\u2019re still in the process, but we\u2019re very, very close to completing that conveyance,\u201d said city manager Andrew Vialpando.<\/p>\n
Effects on Lomita<\/p>\n
The terms of the agreement are still being figured out. Vialpando says it\u2019s been \u201cdark\u201d over the last month because of the government shutdown, but he\u2019s confident it\u2019ll be done in the coming year.<\/p>\n
A key question is how much the city will have to pay for the land, which is required under the legislation. Vialpando says they haven\u2019t discussed those terms yet but that Lomita has a \u201cmodest\u201d general fund of $16 million.<\/p>\n
\u201c\u200aTo acquire 6 acres at a fair market value price really is inconceivable,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
The city plans to fix up the ballfield.<\/p>\n
(<\/p>\n
Courtesy city of Lomita<\/p>\n
)<\/p>\n
The bleachers will need to be repaired.<\/p>\n
(<\/p>\n
Courtesy city of Lomita<\/p>\n
)<\/p>\n
Vialpando says part of the ongoing talks with the Navy and federal government will be negotiating a deal where the city can take over the land without breaking the bank \u2014 including with in-kind payments or a subsidy.<\/p>\n
However, monetary costs for the city will come down the line. The park needs repairs to meet modern recreation and accessibility standards. The bleachers, fencing, restrooms, electrical systems and snack bar need upgrades.<\/p>\n
Over the next few months, officials will evaluate the fields and facilities to develop an improvement plan based on community needs and resources.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Keep up with LAist. If you’re enjoying this article, you’ll love our daily newsletter, The LA Report. Each…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":39904,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[33],"tags":[27252,25658,131,133,132,27253,7695],"class_list":{"0":"post-39903","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-long-beach","8":"tag-baseball-field","9":"tag-lomita","10":"tag-long-beach","11":"tag-long-beach-headlines","12":"tag-long-beach-news","13":"tag-navy-field","14":"tag-us-navy"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/39903","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=39903"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/39903\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/39904"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=39903"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=39903"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=39903"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}