District considers fences, layout change for baseball field

The Laguna Beach High School baseball field may get higher fences or have its layout changed to limit the number of balls leaving the playing confines.

The Laguna Beach Unified School District board on Tuesday favored either raising the fence height in certain sections by 20 feet or lowering and reconfiguring the field so balls hit over the left-field fence would land near the school’s track instead of in residents’ frontyards.

For more than a year, residents who live on streets bordering the field such as St. Ann’s Drive beyond the left-field fence pressured the board to do something out of safety concerns.

Thirty-foot-tall fencing surrounding the field was not high enough to keep balls from landing dangerously close to people and cars, residents said.

The idea of erecting retractable fences was suggested to alleviate concerns that higher permanent fencing would restrict neighbor views. But that solution would cost about $2.1 million as opposed to a $700,000 estimate to simply replace the existing fencing with 50-foot-tall fixed barriers in selected areas.

The necessary poles in that scenario would double in width and the new barrier would affect the views of residents living on streets above St. Ann’s Drive, according to a district staff report.

Reconfiguring the field could cost between $2 million and $3 million, depending on how much the field was lowered and the price to replace fencing.

The change would likely revert the field to its former position before it was shifted in 2004. It is unclear why the field was initially reconfigured, but some officials say it was to make it easier to comply with the Americans with Disabilities Act.

With a lower field, balls would need to travel farther to clear the fence, Facilities Director Jeff Dixon said.

Trustees differed on preferred options, but appeared to agree that residents’ safety should be the top priority.

“I don’t see any choices to make it safe that won’t impact the view,” said trustee Jan Vickers, who favored reconfiguration. “From what I’ve heard the sun is in the faces of outfielders and the pitcher.”

Trustee William Landsiedel opposed moving the field.

“It’s way too expensive,” he said. “I favor the least expensive [solution] that guarantees safety.”

The board did not want the baseball team to move its games to Alta Laguna Park as one resident suggested.

Before making any final decisions, the board wants staff to research whether it would be cost-effective to include a field reconfiguration as part of a planned renovation to Laguna Beach High’s football stadium.

The board on Tuesday gave staff approval to discuss the stadium renovation with Ruhnau Ruhnau Clarke, an architectural planning firm.