City officials are proceeding with caution on a proposal to develop a Chargers stadium on the city's 71.7-acre Center City Golf Course, leery of what it will take to make a deal.

“I don't know what the economic benefit might be; I've not broken it down,” Mayor Jim Wood said. “Like everybody else, I want to find out what they want, and I'm willing to sit down and negotiate with them.”

Team executives are meeting today with Oceanside officials to discuss several aspects of the proposed site: how much it could be expanded for development, how many fans could travel to the stadium by rail, and possible sites the team could buy for public use as replacement for the golf course.

“These are threshold issues,” said Mark Fabiani, the Chargers' general counsel. “If you can't get over the hump on these, then it probably doesn't work.”

The team would like to build a commercial project adjacent to the stadium and will talk with city officials about development that could include a mix of housing, offices, retail, restaurants and a hotel. The idea is to use profit from the commercial project to help pay for the stadium, while the development would spin off sales and property tax and tourist dollars for the city, Chargers executives say.

The Oceanside site would provide ready rail and freeway access to fans in Orange, Los Angeles, Riverside and San Bernardino counties and San Diego's North County. But some residents fear it would also increase congestion on Interstate 5. Wood noted that a freeway widening project from La Jolla to Oceanside is scheduled to begin construction in 2009.

The Chargers might be able to replace the golf course site – part of the city's open space for public use – by buying land at the city-owned El Corazon property, 456 acres in the heart of Oceanside where a park and sports fields are planned.

Fabiani said the Oceanside issues do not appear insurmountable.

Wood said the city does not know how much the golf course is worth. But city officials have previously considered developing a hotel or a convention center at the site.

“I think that it's a piece of property that is valuable in Southern California,” Wood said. “The question is whether it is more valuable as a stadium or something else when it comes to the quality of life for our citizens.”

Tim Leung, a member of the city's Community Relations Commission, said Carlsbad has its Car Country auto dealerships and an outlet mall, but Oceanside does not have similar visitor attractions. An NFL stadium would change that, he said.

“I know there are problems, but they would be confined to only a few weeks a year,” said Leung, an engineer. “My worry is that the Chargers are playing us for leverage. But if there's a good-faith agreement, this thing could possibly happen.”

The Oceanside Chamber of Commerce has not taken an official position on a stadium, but the city's business community is generally supportive, said David Nydegger, the chamber's chief executive officer.

While stadium supporters can visualize aerial shots of the city's 3½ miles of sandy beaches and its 1,954-foot pier beaming coast to coast during Chargers games, others see traffic jams, noise and community disruption.

“You don't take a high-intensity use like the Chargers stadium and drop it in a neighborhood,” said Carolyn Krammer, a founder of Citizens for the Preservation of Parks and Beaches. “You'll ruin it.”

Sports economists are divided on an Oceanside stadium.

“I always say there are two things you don't want to put on valuable, city-owned property: One is a cemetery and the other is a football stadium,” said Allen Sanderson, a University of Chicago economist.

He said an NFL stadium is a poor revenue generator for a local government because it is operational usually for 10 days a year.

Dan Rascher, director of the Sports Management program at the University of San Francisco, said the Chargers' plan to privately finance the stadium “is a better deal than in most cities,” which have given public land and money.

Wood said that if talks with the Chargers progress, he wants the team to pay for a consultant and staff time on stadium-related work. The team has agreed to pay $200,000 for a land-use consultant in Chula Vista to analyze possible stadium sites, and is covering the city's staff costs.

The Chargers are also analyzing a site in National City.

Even if the Chargers and Oceanside officials agree on a stadium proposal, city voters will decide its fate. The team wants to put a plan before voters in Oceanside or elsewhere in the county in 2008.

“One thing that's good no matter what happens is that you have to go to a referendum – the citizens would have to vote,” Wood said. “For the mayor and council, that takes some of the heat off our backs.”