Angels Baseball threatens suit, halts fire station project

The Angels lease of the 151-acre Angel Stadium apparently has no room for a fire station.

The city has halted construction of the fire station at the city-owned stadium after Angels Baseball threatened to file a lawsuit, the Orange County Register reported.

Attorney Allen Abshez, representing Angels Baseball and team owner Arte Moreno’s SRB Management firm, fired off a letter in late September saying the team’s stadium lease doesn’t include a fire station and to build it would violate the terms of the agreement, which lasts through 2029.

So the city responded by saying it would halt work on the fire station, but would proceed with designing the firehouse “as it sees fit,” according to an Oct. 27 letter by City Attorney Rob Fabela.

The fire station dispute is one of two legal issues that resulted from the city’s decision to block a $320 million stadium deal – and both appear at a stalemate.

The other issue is whether Anaheim owes SRB Management $5 million in cost recovery because it voided the sale.

The city and SRB were on the verge of closing escrow on the stadium sale last spring when the news broke that then-Mayor Harry Sidhu was under federal investigation for allegedly passing confidential information to Angels Baseball officials in hope of soliciting $1 million for his reelection campaign.

Sidhu, who resigned in May, has not been charged with any crime. Paul Meyer, his attorney, said Sidhu did not leak secret information and that a “fair and thorough investigation” would clear him.

In June, Abshez told the city SRB would file a $5 million claim to recoup money it spent putting the deal together.

The city still hasn’t determined whether it will pay, according to the Register. Anaheim spokesman Mike Lyster said city officials agreed to pause any site preparation or early-stage construction on the fire station to try to untangle the two disputes.

The now-defunct stadium deal would have reserved a small piece of the stadium parking lots for a fire station that would serve homes and businesses in the area.

While the city reserves the right to build the fire station, Lyster said, “we think it is best to separate those two issues and to focus on the claim that has been put forth.”

And the $5 million? If evidence comes to light that the former mayor did improperly share information with the baseball team, the validity of the entire deal — including a clause allowing the stadium buyer to recover $5 million if the city defaulted — could be in question, Lyster said.

SRB spokeswoman Marie Garvey has said the company and the team “acted in good faith throughout their dealings with the city of Anaheim.”

— Dana Bartholomew

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