A historic baseball field in Fallbrook that has served the community for more than 100 years could soon be converted into affordable housing, leaving local Little League teams with one less place to play.
The Zeke Weaver Memorial Field, which has been around since 1914, has been where generations of North County residents learned to play baseball and experienced their first cheers from the crowd.
"It's hitting the community so hard because so many people grew up here, and all of a sudden to see it go for housing, you know, it's just pretty devastating for them," said Ramirez.
Daniela Ramirez, president of Bonsall Fallbrook Little League, has her own memories of playing on the field and expressed shock at the possibility of losing it.
"We were kind of sort of led to believe that the county was gonna take it, but that it was gonna be turned into a public park," said Ramirez.
According to county documents, the land is owned by the North County Fire Protection District. The county is looking to buy the land to build affordable housing or for other county uses.
County records show they need more than 68,000 units regionally for low-income housing, adding that "addressing the housing needs of residents is essential for their self-sufficiency and well-being."
"I sympathize with the housing situation. I absolutely do, but I don't think that building in here is gonna fix the housing situation, and it's gonna take away the fields from the kids," said Ramirez.
More than 200 kids currently use the field, which is the only one in the area with lights. Ramirez warns that if the plan is approved in its current form, the league may have to reduce the number of teams it can host.
"There's gonna come a point where it's just, you know, there's just nowhere for the kids to go anymore, and we're gonna have to shut down," said Ramirez.
On Tuesday, the Board of Supervisors moved the process forward by voting to set a public hearing on the purchase. Supervisor Jim Desmond also asked the county to explore whether it would be possible to require a developer to include recreational spaces as part of an affordable housing development.
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