OC Parks Commissioners sign a binder filled with documents associated with the proposed gift. Commissioners pictured are, from left, Stephan Andranian, Dick Davenport, Trish Kelley, Matt Cunningham, Chair Bert Ashland and Keith Curry.
Contact: Howard Sutter, (714) 834-6203, Howard.Sutter@ocgov.com
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: June 24, 2010
Board of Supervisors Holds Special Meeting to Consider 20,000 Acre Gift on Tuesday
(Santa Ana, CA) – The Orange County Board of Supervisors will discuss a historic 20,000 acre open space gift at a special meeting on Tuesday, June 29 at 8:30 a.m. The Irvine Company is donating the land for its continued preservation and recreation.
If approved by the Board, the dedication will increase OC Parks’ parkland and open space by 50%, to nearly 60,000 acres. This proposal represents the largest single land donation ever gifted to the County.
The Board of Supervisors previously approved a Letter of Intent informing the Irvine Company of the County’s intention to accept the land and establishing the criteria to do so on Sept. 29, 2009. The OC Parks Commission considered and approved the acceptance of the property on June 17.
The Board will hold its regularly scheduled meeting beginning at 9:30 a.m. to consider the adoption of the proposed budget for FY 2010-2011.
The Board of Supervisors meets in the Hall of Administration at 333 W. Santa Ana Blvd. in Santa Ana. To view meeting agendas and watch the special and regularly scheduled meetings streamed live, visit www.ocgov.com. All documents related to the land donation are available on the OC Parks web site at www.ocparks.com.
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Matt Cunningham outed sex-abuse victims.
What sounds like a great way to preserve open space for all to enjoy could be much more complicated. I can only hope that the Supervisors and their staff carefully analyze things such as: (1) what liabiiliteis are being shifted from the private owner to government by this transfer, such as wildland fires spreading to and coming from this property; (2) runoff coming from this property during storms causing damage to neighboring property and/or major water courses such as Santiago Creek and even Irvine Lake; (3) wildlife, such as cougars, migrating from this property from time to time causing harm to the public as well as adjacent landowners: (4) what rights have been reserved by the donating landowner to engage in grading, excavating, trenching, erection of electrical or cell towers, mining of sand and gravel or other valuable resources, roadway contruction and other activites that could greatly alter the character of this property in the future. As with many things in life, the devil can be in the details and let’s hope the county has identified and assessed those details so that the benefit far outweights the potential future costs and that whatever those future costs are they are affordable.