Upcoming action on Trueblood/Janeway house

Action to rehabilitate Yorba Linda's historic Trueblood/Janeway house might be on the horizon.

Fronting Lemon Drive just east of the post office and visible from Imperial Highway behind the city-owned railroad caboose near the Polly's Pies restaurant property, the two-story building was once home to early families and the popular Calico House fabric business.

But the now-boarded structure was caught up in state rules regarding dissolution of the city's Redevelopment Agency, ordered in 2012 as part of the termination of some 400 agencies statewide.

The 4801 Park Avenue property was acquired by the agency in 2010, and later that year the Yorba Linda Preservation Society was awarded “the opportunity to renovate the structure,” according to a report from Pam Stoker, the city's economic development manager.

Stoker noted the agency's assets “were constrained under state mandate” and “no action was allowed to be taken on agency-owned properties during the dissolution process,” so rehab was shelved until a Long Range Property Management Plan was adopted in 2014.

“One of several legal requirements...was to identify each of the former agency's land assets and prove the necessity for retaining the property or indicate the intent to liquidate each parcel,” Stoker stated.

Stoker noted the city can keep the property “provided the site is ultimately used for a related governmental purpose,” and she plans to plans to present “a menu of options that may be available” for the City Council to consider at an upcoming meeting.

Also upcoming:

--A linear park with about 7.5 acres of usable space to run along a three-quarter mile stretch of Gun Club Road from Yorba Linda Boulevard north to Bastanchury Road could be completed by the end of the year, according to an extension of an agreement recently council-approved.

The developer Toll Brothers is paying for the design and construction of the park, but the city will be responsible for ongoing maintenance that's expected to cost some $30,000 each year. Three prior extensions were granted for the park, with the current expiring Dec. 31.

The park will be limited to passive activities, such as walking and equestrian trails, along with a small parking lot and trail head area, since major piping from three water agencies run under the entire length of the property.

--Yorba Linda High School will have a full-time School Resource Officer from the county Sheriff's Department with the city and school district paying about $65,000 each for 10 months.

Previously, an officer split time between Esperanza and Yorba Linda high schools, but now Esperanza will have a full-time officer paid entirely by Anaheim.

--Work will begin under new annual contracts for county animal care services for $207,158; weed abatement for up to $26,500; and traffic signal maintenance and “as needed” repairs for up to $140,000 at 57 intersections.