CHULA VISTA, Calif. — Several soccer fields in the South Bay could soon be re-zoned and turned into mixed-use housing. That means the Eastlake Soccer League needs to find a new play to place.
South Bay soccer is booming. When Anwar Nash took over the Eastlake Soccer League five years ago, there were 15 teams. Today, he has more than 300 teams, from toddlers through adults.
“We started getting attention from the people, word of mouth. Now we're one of the biggest leagues in San Diego," Nash said.
The teams play on the soccer fields beside the Otay Ranch Town Center.
"We bring a lot of people to this mall and to the stores around this area. From all the people that come and play here, from here they go and shop there or they have a drink or they eat," Nash said.
Nash started renting the land from Brookfield properties. Brookfield owns the mall and the land for the soccer fields. They told Nash that one day Brookfield would redevelop the open space.
At the time, he had no idea his league would explode to 6,000 players.
“We told them we are bringing a lot of people to your stores, to your tenants, so it might be good if you just let us stay," Nash said.
Instead, on May 8, Brookfield went to the Chula Vista Sustainability Commission and presented an idea to redevelop that property. Dr. Christos Korgan chairs the commission and saw Brookfield’s plan.
"They would like to have the entire area rezoned. That includes everything you see here, all the soccer fields, in order to create something we already have right across the way. I don't feel that they really did due diligence to see how the community would react, what the needs of the community are, or what the displacement of the business would do,” Korgan said.
Korgan points to all the new housing around the soccer field, even right across the street. Some are finished, and some are still under construction.
The Milenia Development is on the other side of the mall with a new mixed-use housing project planned beyond it.
Another housing project planned just a few blocks from the soccer fields and on under construction right now across the street.
Korgan says the information Brookfield used in its presentation was not accurate. It did not have a current environmental impact report, nor did its report include current housing that’s already built or under construction.
But Korgan says Brookfield doesn’t have to make an updated presentation to the sustainability commission.
“Their interest is in advancing their agenda to the planning commission because then the planning commission can take authority to rezone,” Korgan said.
The Otay Ranch Town Center area is in District 3 of Chula Vista. But no one on Chula Vista’s Planning Commission is from District 3.
Their meetings are on the second and fourth Wednesdays of every month.
As the battle over rezoning and high-density housing rages on, Nash and the Eastlake Soccer League need to find a new home.
A challenge in the expensive real estate market of San Diego.
Nash says he does have some leads.
“It's challenging but it's not impossible. And we're going to do our best. We're going to keep servicing them and we're going to create a good place for them to play soccer," Nash said.
He says he’s working to make the transition to a new location smooth for his 6,000 players.
CBS 8 reached out to Brookfield Properties several times but did not respond to our repeated requests for information.
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