City to Lease Stoneman Site Long-term--$5 Million For 99 Years

In what was called a “landmark” “milestone” and “historical” moment by some San Marino City Council members and city staff, the city council voted unanimously Wednesday night to enter into an agreement for a 99-year lease—with option to buy—of the from the for $5 million.

“I am thrilled that Stoneman is staying within the San Marino community,” said San Marino City Councilman Dennis Kneier, who ended his one-year mayoral term Wednesday night. “I think we can serve the community well.”

The decision comes after the San Marino Board of Education voted Tuesday night to accept the city’s most recent bid to lease the property.

“I want to thank everyone for working so hard on this,” said San Marino Board of Education President Chris Norgaard, addressing the city council and staff Wednesday night. “It shows the strength of San Marino’s community interdependence.”

As part of the agreement, the city council voted Wednesday to appropriate the funds immediately necessary for the lease. The city submitted a $10,000 deposit, which will be subtracted from their first payment of $2 million. An additional $3,500 is required for title insurance.

The city’s bid of $5 million occurred in the third round of bidding for the Stoneman site.

In the first round of bids, the Board of Education rejected a bid of $6.3 million from the City of San Marino and a $4 million bid from the Almansor Center, a learning center for children up to adults, according to San Marino City Manager Matt Ballantyne in an earlier San Marino Patch article. The Board also turned down the —in which the city did not participate—from Almansor Center and.

“The value of money is different depending on how someone proposes they are going to pay for it,” SMUSD Superintendent Gary Woods said in the same San Marino Patch article. “It depends on when they [bidders] want to pay it and how they want to pay it and how much it’s worth and we obviously are looking for payments up front because of trying to solve the budget crisis issue.”

Prior to the new agreement, the city leased the Stoneman property for the Department of Recreation, but had to renew their lease with the SMUSD every year.

The SMUSD, facing a projected $5.6 million deficit, wanted to lease the property long-term to help compensate for the lack of funds. Since the Stoneman site was designated as surplus property, the school district is not permitted to sell it and use proceeds for operational expenses, according to Woods.

“This is a win-win-win,” said council member Eugene Sun. “It is a win for the parents, the schools and the city.”

Sun noted that the council started working on a deal to possibly lease the Stoneman site over a year ago, when Sun was mayor of San Marino.

The city has another $1 million set aside in case the law changes and the property’s purchase can benefit the SMUSD. 

“At some point I think the law is going to change and the city can pay the $1 million plus reasonable interest on what the city was earning on that million over a period of time and buy it,” said city attorney Steve Dorsey.

Mayor Allan Yung, elected as the new mayor Wednesday night, opened up the meeting for public comment on the agreement before council members voted.

One resident said he called the previous possible agreement “trash” and though he hadn’t seen the details of the current agreement he still found it flawed.

“Someone made the observation that education in the area was like a bunch of heroine addicts with money as they are with drugs,” said the resident named Gene, who didn’t give his last name. “I think that’s true; I don’t think $2 million a year is going to help the schools.”

Gene expressed that preserving the land for the city is a noble objective, but the city should buy the land instead.

Dorsey notified Gene that if the district sold the land, by law the money would go to the state and not the district.

Another resident shared that he attended Tuesday night’s San Marino Board of Education meeting and emailed news of the accepted Stoneman bid to over 100 residents.

“The reaction and feedback I got back today was all positive. I couldn’t encourage the city more to accept it,” said the resident.

He also encouraged the city council to give a copy of the agreement to the San Marino Historical Society since it represents a lease that will last longer than anyone alive in the city today.