Thanks are owed to past civic leaders who shaped Yorba Linda's identity, growth against big odds

Yorba Linda residents should give thanks to many of the community's past citizens whose actions led to the ambiance and amenities enjoyed by close to 70,000 individuals in 2019.

Today's 20-square-mile city wasn't destined to become a self-governed entity, since some powerful interests opposed incorporation in the 1960s, and later plans for the surrounding area threatened the city's identity as a safe, less-urban haven for families.

The first attempt at cityhood came in 1956 with the formation of a citizens committee to study the issue. Other incorporation groups organized and disbanded during the next decade, with all facing intense opposition, mainly from large landowners and holders of oil and gas leases.

Finally, a favorable court ruling and less resistance from the county Board of Supervisors led to the long-sought special election in 1967, with incorporation winning by a 1,964 to 638 vote.

Without that decade-long incorporation effort and successful election, residents today might be living in Brea, Placentia and mostly Anaheim, since each city had attempted annexations in the past, and they were prepared to continue piecemeal efforts in the future.

But incorporation didn't solve all of the community's problems, since proposed nearby developments would have made living in the rapidly growing city much less desirable.

One challenge that appeared in the 1970s has faded from many memories today. But the possibility of a regional airport on 25,000 acres in the Chino Hills, initially supported by the Anaheim City Council, galvanized Yorba Linda residents into opposition.

Thirty-year City Council member and five-time mayor Hank Wedaa, who died Nov. 13 at age 95, played a key role in preventing jet runways from being built only a few miles from the city.

Wedaa, several leaders in nearby cities and newly arriving residents worked to prevent a four-runway facility with 500,000 annual commercial and private flights from becoming a reality by forming a citizens action group, Prevent Airport Traffic in Chino Hills, or PATCH.

Although the Federal Aviation Administration gave conditional approval to a smaller project in 1972, the agency ruled in 1974 that federal funds wouldn’t be available. PATCH continued to play whack-a-mole as powerful airport proponents tried to revive the plan for several years.

Wedaa’s long council service was partly due to his role as an effective airport opponent. He served 1970-1994, won a seventh term in 1996 and retired in 2000. A final stint came when he won a special election in 2007, but voters nixed his bid for a ninth term in 2008.

Wedaa's position as a leader at the South Coast Air Quality Management District; the Southern California Association of Governments, including the aviation subcommittee; and other regional bodies gave Yorba Linda outsized influence on such matters as the airport, as well as the once-proposed Gypsum Canyon jail facility.

Yorba Linda city leaders decide on spending 'excess operating reserves' as surpluses mount

“Excess operating reserves” is a term that's become familiar to Yorba Linda's elected leaders in the years since the Great Recession put a pinch into the city's income from taxes and fees.

In the decade after the 2008-09 economic downturn, the city has reported sizable increases in the cash leftover after expenditures are deducted from revenues, which has resulted in a hefty reserve and a city policy to keep 50% of a year's expenses in “rainy day” accounts.

The city has close to $5.1 million more than the $18.5 million needed to maintain the 50% level for the current fiscal year, with the $5.1 million considered excess operating reserves, according to a recent report presented to the City Council by Finance Director Scott Catlett.

With reserves now standing at 64% of this year's operating budget, another city policy “requires” council to appropriate an amount close to $1.4 million to reduce the balance below a 60% level, Catlett's report to the council stated.

Of course, under the minimum 50% reserve policy, “any amount up to the full $5.1 million is available for the council's use at this time,” Catlett noted. But the council accepted Catlett's recommendation for four appropriations that would leave reserves at a 55% level.

Two of the recommendations would continue a multi-year practice of reducing the city's unfunded liabilities for employee pensions and retired employee medical payments with the state Public Employees Retirement System.

The city's goal is to reduce a 30-year amortization period to 20 years or less by making extra payments each year to the pension fund. This year's regular payment is close to $1.7 million, to which the city will add $264,074.

Over the past three years, the city has paid a total of about $4 million in regular contributions to the fund, plus nearly $900,000 in added contributions from excess reserves.

The city will contribute $230,718 to a trust set up with the pension fund to help cover the city's retired employee medical liability. A similar amount was paid in for each of the past two years.

Soil contaminant remediation costs on the city's West Bastanchury Road property once planned for the Friends Christian High School campus also will come from the reserves.

The total $1.1 million cost should be reimbursed from sale proceeds when the property closes escrow, probably this spring, although a previous developer who planned single-family homes on the acreage dropped out of a purchase proposal.

The city also will reduce a $4.6 million loan balance on the Town Center project by $2 million. The city hopes to pay the remaining $2.6 million during the next fiscal year, “should sufficient resources be available at year-end to do so,” Catlett stated.

The current projected budget surplus on June 30, 2020, is $163,000, but Catlett anticipates more savings will be realized during the next nine months “consistent with past fiscal years.”

Yorba Linda officials study traffic impacts well in advance of In-N-Out Burger restaurant opening

Yorba Linda city officials are already studying traffic impacts for an In-N-Out Burger restaurant planned for property that is now occupied by the public library and soil remediation equipment on Imperial Highway between Lemon Drive and Olinda Street.

The near-4,000-square-foot facility on the 1.5-acre site is expected to draw more traffic than the library, especially during the eatery's peak hours, according to a 53-page study (with 321 pages of appendices) presented at a recent Traffic Commission meeting.

“The proposed project is anticipated to be constructed and fully operational by the year 2021,” Tony Wang, the city's traffic engineering manager, reported to the five City Council-appointed commissioners at their October session.

The new two-story, 45,000-square-foot library, now under construction at the southeast corner of the Lakeview Avenue and Lemon Drive intersection along with the separate 13,500-square-foot cultural arts center, is expected to open in summer 2020.

The In-N-Out will be built using the company's “urban design” plan and be similar to the La Habra restaurant on Lambert Road. The land is an “unusual site to design” and will require a retaining wall due to different elevations, a company representative told commissioners.

Traffic flow for the drive-through portion of the facility and parking for the some 70 indoor and a similar number of outdoor seats is a key topic in the study reviewed by commissioners, due to In-N-Out's large fan base and the long lines common at most of the company's outlets.

The proposed project's drive-through lane can store approximately 29 passenger vehicles and is anticipated to entirely accommodate the peak drive-through demand of 21 vehicles, Wang reported to commissioners.

A contingency plan has been developed should the actual drive-through queue exceed expectations, Wang stated. The plan involves closing an entrance on Lemon Drive and directing traffic to an Olinda Street driveway, to be implemented on an as-needed basis.

Cameras will alert restaurant managers to potential drive-through and parking problems.

A total of 212 trips to In-N-Out will be generated during a weekday afternoon peak hour, or 46 more than the 166 trips to the library during a May 9 survey. The Saturday afternoon peak will generate 232 In-N-Out trips, 34 more than the 198 to the library during a May 11 survey.

Several factors, including statistics from other In-N-Out and Chick-fil-A locations and current and future local traffic estimates, provided the vehicle figures anticipated for the Yorba Linda site.

In addition to the Lemon Drive and Olinda Street entrances to the project, eight nearby intersections were reviewed, with “no significant traffic impacts” found, based on a city-established standard, so “no mitigation measures will be required.”

The company will hire off-duty Sheriff's deputies to aid traffic flow during opening weeks.

Yorba Linda voters don't react favorably to bond measure elections on statewide or local ballots

Yorba Linda's voting population rarely reacts favorably to statewide bond propositions.

In fact, all six bond measures on the 2016 and 2018 primary and general election ballots were turned down by Yorba Linda's voters, including those residing in the Country Club and Fairlynn county islands.

All but one of the measures passed statewide, but just two passed muster with Orange County's voters. The propositions sought nearly $30 billion in bonded debt for the state.

The measures dealt with selling long-term bonds for school facilities, childrens hospital construction, housing assistance for veterans and mentally ill individuals, water-related infrastructure and natural resources-related programs for parks and habitat conservation.

One of Yorba Linda's largest “no” votes on a bond proposition came on the measure to allot $4.1 billion for natural resources-related programs, Proposition 68 in the June 2018 election. The city and county islands vote was 65% against the measure.

However, the statewide count was 57.6% in favor of the measure, so it's possible Yorba Linda could benefit from some of the funds that will be realized after the bonds are sold to investors.

The City Council on Oct. 15 approved a resolution for filing an application for funds for projects under a section of Proposition 68 that will provide per capita grants to government jurisdictions.

The money will come from $185 million set aside for “local park rehabilitation, creation and improvement grants on a per capita basis” of the total $4.1 billion that was approved in the Proposition 68 vote, according to guidelines issued to applicant cities by a state agency.

Each applicant's dollar amount will be determined by a formula that's based on city, county and state population figures, but each city will receive a minimum grant award of $200,000.

Since Yorba Linda doesn't meet the state's “disadvantage community criteria,” the city will be required to contribute a 20% match. Matching sources can be from federal funds, local city funds, in-house employee services, private funds and volunteer labor, according to officials.

“Grant recipients are encouraged to utilize awards to rehabilitate existing infrastructure and to address deficiencies in neighborhoods lacking access to the outdoors,” the state report noted. The city will be notified of funding by March 2020, and projects must be completed by Dec. 31, 2021.

The lack of enthusiasm for bond measures by Yorba Linda's voters has even included the two most recent elections for local school bonds, which require 55% approval for passage.

The 2014 North Orange County Community College District $574 million bond and the 2008 Placentia-Yorba Linda Unified School District $200 million bond propositions failed to reach the 55% level in Yorba Linda and county islands, but both measures passed because of the higher margins won in other cities within the districts' boundaries.