OCEANSIDE - There appears to be a new team opposing the Chargers and this one doesn't belong to the National Football League.

A citizens group called "Go Away Chargers" has formed to fight the possibility that the San Diego football team could build a $700 million stadium on a city-owned golf course at Interstate 5 and Oceanside Boulevard, an attorney who said he represents the group stated Tuesday.

The attorney, David O'Connell, said Tuesday that he was retained as the spokesman for Go Away Chargers about a week ago. He said members of the group are from the Oceanside Boulevard area, but he declined to say how many there are, who they are, or when the group was formed.

The group's members "want to retain some confidentiality," he said.

"It's people who look at that park as a place they want to keep open, and can't understand why the city would want to sacrifice it on the altar of development," O'Connell said. "It's just a group of citizens who are mad as hell."

Chargers lead negotiator Mark Fabiani said Tuesday that he hadn't come across the group yet but would "love to meet them."

He said that he has met with many groups over the years who have been opposed to various plans put forth by the Chargers and that, while those critics may not change their minds, a dialogue can be started.

"That's really valuable," Fabiani said, about discussion with community groups on either side of an issue.

Interim City Manager Peter Weiss said Tuesday that the formation of an opposition group is great, but that the city hasn't "even started looking at whether it's feasible for the Chargers to come (to Oceanside), because they haven't indicated they're coming."

"We're exploring the options," Weiss said. "There are nothing that I consider negotiations at this point. I don't consider them negotiations until the Chargers say they're coming to Oceanside."

The Chargers announced last year that they were eyeing a site in Oceanside as a possible home for a new stadium. The property, which now holds the Center City Municipal Golf Course and is known as Goat Hill because of its steep terrain, is tightly ringed by businesses, apartments, homes and parkland.

The city has leased the property, which is designated as parkland, through 2011 to operators of the 18-hole golf course.

To move forward with a stadium, a majority of Oceanside voters would have to approve changing the site's parkland designation. The team's goal is to choose a location for the new stadium by the end of this year and go to the ballot in November 2008.

The choice hinges, in big part, on a market survey due out this month assessing whether a stadium and as much as 2 million square feet of high-end office space would be a recipe for the stadium's economic success. The team is also considering two sites in Chula Vista.

Several people in Oceanside who have spoken out against the Chargers coming here said Tuesday they hadn't heard about the group, but are glad a such a movement may be emerging.

Community activist Nadine Scott, who lives in the area east of the Oceanside golf course, said organized opposition to the stadium idea is welcome news.

"There have been a lot of people who have raised concerns," she said, about the possibility the Chargers could come to Oceanside. "I think this (opposition group) is what we need. Right now everything is under the veil of land negotiations, but there's a lot more going on than that."

A quick look at the fledgling "Go Away Chargers" Web site, goawaychargers.netrootz.com, shows that the group supports the Chargers, but wants them to stay at Qualcomm Stadium.

The team, however, has been unable in the last four years to reach an agreement with the city of San Diego on building another stadium there.

The Chargers can leave the stadium after the 2008 season by paying off the balance on $60 million in bonds that the city issued to expand the facility in 1997.

- Contact Marga Kellogg at (760) 901-4067 or mkellogg@nctimes.com.