After what will be 3 years and 2 months, Ballplayer Field is officially going away! 😪
I’m having a hard time summing up a proper statement to explain why the field is going away. But I’ll give it a try because I know a lot of people will want to know.
The business model works (camps, birthday parties, baseball practice and clinics, outdoor batting cage rentals, community events). The property owner isn’t kicking us out (they have let us know from day 1 that as soon as a development is in the pipeline, they will give us notice and we’ll be on our way). The community enjoys it (based on reviews from the field and the fact that we’ve hosted hundreds of events, parties, camps and more at the field). There is no impending development planned (this may change of course, but it’s complicated and any development that does take place will likely need a few years to be ready to break ground).
The real reason we’re rolling up the turf is because of state mandates for housing, the housing element that has recently passed, and the fact that the Town of Moraga wants as many properties as possible that have been designated as ‘housing opportunity sites’ to be ‘turn-key’ and ready for development.
After getting through Covid and the field going from a pivot to outdoor training when indoor was restricted - to the current iteration, my position has been that this model works just fine and I’ve hoped to have the opportunity to stay until a development is approved and is ready to break ground. I’ve always wanted to turn this ‘community field’ into a nicer, permanent solution. But in the meantime, we’ve provided a seemingly 100% positive use out of a vacant gravel lot behind Safeway with no residences within 500 feet to disturb.
But rather than attempting to apply for another extension - and risk thousands of dollars of permit and attorney fees - we are going to peacefully surrender.
When I received the most recent 18 month extension by the wonderful folks on the Moraga planning commission in early 2022, I was tasked with making progress toward a more permanent solution, in a properly zoned location. As anyone that lives in Moraga knows, there aren’t many locations that fit the bill. But I’ve made great progress with the Moraga School District and may have the opportunity to collaborate and utilize a school district field (working around the current uses of longtime Moraga based clubs and community organizations). So as a business, Ballplayers is discussing and determining the feasibility of this option and how we’d like to move forward.
In closing, another final post is likely coming that summarizes all that Ballplayer Field has been, but we have appreciated all of the support we’ve received along the way and are really happy with what we built and provided at our oasis by the trailer park🤣. After months of discussions and research, we’re (almost) at peace with the fact that we won’t have a multi-use field across the parking lot from our indoor facility. Maybe this will be a blessing in disguise for a bigger and better opportunity to present itself in the future.