Letting down fences in city-developer agreement

Yorba Linda residents won’t be surprised to learn that developers don’t always fulfill their promises. Sometimes they need a stern reminder of the agreements they’ve made to obtain City Council approval for their projects.

For example, a key condition attached to the council’s approval of the Presidential Walk I homes, south of the post office, permits public access to a mini-park area along the project’s southern border with the horse trail, just north of the Richard Nixon Library & Birthplace.

The condition states, in part, “Fencing shall not be provided along the southern edge of the project where it interfaces with the El Cajon multi-purpose trail, but shall remain as open allowing a porous edge between the project and the trail.”

That condition, and another requiring the homeowners’ association governing documents to “contain a provision which states that public access shall not be prohibited to the mini- parks without the review and approval of the City Council,” was adopted two years ago.

The developers did install a single four-foot wide opening at the top of a set of stairs from the horse trail as required by another of the project’s 129 conditions. But that was the only entryway along 500 feet of what was supposed to be a “porous” southern boundary line.

And despite the council’s no-fence condition, developers built a sturdy steel fence along the property’s entire southern edge, separating the mini-park from the adjacent horse trail.

The no-fencing condition was an important aspect of the Town Center Master Plan, also adopted two years ago. According to a memo from then-City Manager Terry Belanger, the master plan identified “critical elements” that should be included in the Presidential Walk I project, including open access to the mini-park area and the porous south border.

The open mini-park provision had mollified some opponents of the houses built on the former avocado packing plant site. They thought that 41 two-story homes on a net 4.6 acres--with houses from 2,043 to 2,181 square feet on lot sizes from 2,858 to 6,358 square feet--gave the area a high-density appearance.

Soon after this columnist inquired about the fence and lack of public access to the mini-park site, city staff suggested that the Planning Commission could rule that the “as built” status along the project’s southern edge satisfied the intent of the no-fence requirement.

While the council-appointed commissioners allowed the fence to remain in place, they did ask that a second stairway be added to meet the “porous” portion of the condition.

A FINAL NOTE--Some Yorba Linda conservatives philosophically oppose a governmental role in redeveloping private property--in the downtown area or anywhere else.

But I’ve always believed most residents would support a city-sponsored plan to revitalize Old Towne by adding a few shops, restaurants and homes, if density was kept within the city’s historic standards and eminent domain wasn’t used as a threat to acquire property.

However, the new zoning rules have many residents--already distrustful of the city’s intentions--worried that density in the more modest Town Center concept plan will be revised upward when marketing studies are completed and future phases authorized.