They lost the indoor soccer league in Merced. They let the council know they’re angry

The Merced City Council took the ire of local parents this week following news the building where their children play soccer is soon to close to become a weed business.

The Merced Indoor Sports Center at 115 Heron Way was approved in August as a site to grow, manufacture and distribute cannabis, according to city records. Parents and children who play soccer there say didn’t find out until about two weeks ago.

“The city of Merced decided that (a) marijuana plantation was a better fit for the community than the Merced Indoor Sports Center,” Merced native Ricardo Aguilera said.

The 23-year-old, who ran the leagues with his father, said “thousands of kids and thousands of adults” used the center for indoor soccer year-round.

The building was approved as one of four marijuana businesses, not counting dispensaries, by the Merced Planning Commission. Aguilera said the council and city staffers have promised to help the leagues find a new home.

“Please keep your guys’ word. Please keep your promise,” he said, speaking to the council. “Make this a win-win situation for everybody.”

The facility had been home to the soccer leagues for about 15 years and averaged 3,000 children and adults a month, according to the Aguileras.

Hope Meza said she coaches 3- and 4-year-olds at the center. She said breaking the news to kids and parents was “devastating.”

When an owner looks to make a change to a business like the sports center, neighboring businesses and homes within 300 feet are informed. But, there are few if any homes near the sports center. Parents and children who use the facility say they were not told of the change so they weren’t given a chance to object to the change.

“The owner has every right, and I agree with that and I understand that,” Meza said to the council. “But, please, help us relocate. It’s expensive.”

Program runners estimated it would cost close to $200,000 to move, noting the indoor carpet would have to be completely replaced.

Dr. Sima Asadi, a Merced pediatrician, said many of the children that used the center come from families that can’t afford nannies, transportation or a travel sports team. “While we have no real grocery stores on that side of (Highway) 99, we also have no gyms on that side of 99,” she said.

Merced County Supervisor Rodrigo Espinoza, too, urged the council to take a second look at what the planning commission approved. He noted that Fernando Aguilera, who oversees the indoor soccer leagues, runs a number of programs in the city.

“ I know that the planning commission did its job. The owner has a right to apply for whatever he wants,” he said. “If there was an issue with the planning commission, that they approved it, that there is a mistake, the City Council has an option of pulling it into the council to make a better decision.”

Even if the council ultimately approves the cannabis business, the parents and children should be given the opportunity to protest it, he said.

The ship has sailed on the cannabis business, according to Frank Quintero, Merced’s economic development director. The project has been approved and the time for appeals has passed.

Quintero said he has met with Aguilera once and is working to find a new home for the league. “My focus has been speaking to the representatives of the buildings available and developers who’d be willing to work with Fernando,” he said on Tuesday.

City staffers said they met all of their legal qualifications for sending out notices and conducting hearings.

Mayor Mike Murphy said he sympathizes with the parents and others in the soccer program. “I’m very aware of the need to try and relocate the soccer facility,” he said on Tuesday. “I’m going to do what I can with the resources and the constraints that I have.”

Carmen Ponce said her 9-year-old son and 4-year-old daughter play soccer in the league.

“What bothers me the most is that the city thinks they don’t have to notify us as the parents,” she said. “If this decision is going to change so many lives, why not do the proper and moral notification to the parents? Why not let us be part of this decision making?”

This story was originally published October 2, 2018 at 4:39 PM.