OCEANSIDE - San Diego Chargers President Dean Spanos met with Oceanside Mayor Jim Wood on Tuesday to begin discussing the possibility of building a football stadium on a city-owned golf course just off Interstate 5.

Oceanside has joined National City and Chula Vista on the short list of locations that Chargers officials say they have identified as a potential home for the team, which is planning to leave Qualcomm Stadium within the next decade for a new state-of-the-art facility.

City of San Diego leaders said last spring they couldn't help the Chargers build a new stadium, and Tuesday was the second day the team could talk with cities outside the county about relocating. Instead, top Chargers officials visited Oceanside.

Following the meeting, team representatives said they will spend the next couple of weeks analyzing the feasibility of developing a stadium in Oceanside on the 75-acre Center City Golf Course, known as "Goat Hill" because of its hilly terrain.

"We talked about the golf course very generally and it's up to us to go back and do the work we need to do," said Mark Fabiani, the Chargers' lead negotiator on stadium proposals. "We will get back to the mayor relatively quickly in the next couple of weeks and see if there is interest on his part and the City Council."

Wood said there were no details discussed at Tuesday's meeting, which lasted about 40 minutes at Oceanside City Hall and included himself, Spanos, Fabiani and Oceanside City Attorney John Mullen.

"The Chargers kept everything very close to the vest," Wood said about the meeting. "This was opening the door, but we are just one city on the list."

Fabiani said the Chargers contacted Wood to find out more about the golf course site just east of Interstate 5 between Oceanside Boulevard and Mission Avenue.

In February, City Councilwoman Esther Sanchez and several other Oceanside leaders publicly encouraged the Chargers to consider the property, which the city has leased to operators of the inexpensive, 18-hole public golf course through November 2011.

To move forward with a stadium, a majority of Oceanside voters would have to approve changing the parkland designation of the site.

Fabiani said the Chargers are assuming a vote will be required to build a stadium in any of the possible cities, and the team's goal is to put a proposition on the ballot in November 2008.

"We have never looked and still aren't looking for public financing and we are looking at financing the stadium privately," Fabiani said. "We are not asking any city to spend tax dollars on this project and we are funding this project."

Fabiani said the Chargers are looking for a city to provide a piece of property for a stadium. He noted that the golf course site in Oceanside was near a major freeway and rail lines that could make it accessible to fans from San Diego, Orange and Riverside counties.

He said a stadium, which would take about 32 months to build, would only occupy about 15 acres, and the amount of space for parking and other developments would depend on the site that the team ultimately selects.

Wood said a stadium on the golf course property could provide a boost to the neighborhood, and bring more tourism and jobs to the coastal city.

Jerry Butkiewicz, chief executive officer of the San Diego-Imperial Counties Labor Council, encouraged the Chargers to meet with Oceanside because the organization wants to keep thousands of jobs associated with the team in San Diego County, Wood said.

While a stadium would bring more traffic to Oceanside on game days, the negatives would probably be "outweighed by the economic benefits," Wood said.

The City Council decided in August to have its staffers explore alternatives for the golf course property such as a hotel or offices. During the summer meeting, council members said it probably wouldn't be feasible to build a stadium on the property because of traffic concerns and the steep terrain. About 26,000 rounds a year are played on the course, with residents paying between $14 and $20.50 to play 18 holes.

Wood said someone at Tuesday's meeting suggested the possibility of a stadium at the 465-acre city-owned El Corazon property in central Oceanside, but that the site is not an option because it's not close enough to the freeway and the idea would face strong opposition from nearby residents.

He said the golf course was the only potential site for the Chargers in Oceanside.

"Something is not going to happen right away, because they would like to hear from us and we would like to hear from them," Wood said.

The mayor said city officials were impressed that Spanos paid a visit to the coastal city. Spanos, whose father, Alex, has owned the Chargers for the last 22 years, has overseen the team's business and football operations since 1994.

Fabiani said it's not uncommon for Spanos to meet with city officials. He said Spanos also met with the leaders of National City and Chula Vista when the team began discussing sites for a possible stadium in those cities about six months ago.

The Chargers can leave Qualcomm Stadium, which the city of San Diego built for the team in 1967 in Mission Valley, after the 2008 season by paying off the balance on $60 million in bonds that the city issued to expand the facility in 1997.

The Chargers want a stadium with luxury suites and club seats that could raise millions of dollars annually for the team.

Fabiani said it's unlikely a new stadium will be built in the city of San Diego because the Chargers have been unable to work out a deal with the city after more than four years of negotiations.

Under its agreement with the city, as of Monday the Chargers were allowed to talk with any U.S. city about potential sites for a stadium. But Fabiani said the team plans to continue to work to find a home in San Diego County.

"If a city outside of the county calls us, we will politely decline to talk to them," Fabiani said. "That is our position today and will be our position for the foreseeable future."

While there are rumors of the Chargers leaving town for cities such as San Antonio, Los Angeles or Las Vegas, Fabiani said right now the Chargers sole focus is building a stadium in either Chula Vista, Oceanside or National City.

The City Council in Chula Vista, a city of 225,000 in the southern end of the county, has already formed a committee to study possible sites for the team.

National City, a community of about 64,000 in southern San Diego, has proposed a stadium on a 50-plus-acre site near San Diego Bay, but has faced some opposition from businesses.

"Right now those are the only places in the county we know about," Fabiani said. "Every site has its advantages and disadvantages and no site will be perfect. Whenever a possibility opens up, even if it's a long shot, we owe it to our fans to take a look."

- Contact staff writer David Sterrett at (760) 901-4067 or dsterrett@nctimes.com.