SAN JUAN CAPISTRANO : Park Bond Measure Put on April Ballot

The City Council on Tuesday voted 4 to 0 to sponsor a $21-million bond measure designed to purchase 120 acres of farmland for a new park.

The measure is scheduled for the April 10 ballot. The special election on the proposed general-obligation bonds would require support from two-thirds of those voting.

Terms of the 20-year bond issue show average payments of $5.83 per month for homeowners and $2.29 per month for mobile-home owners.

Also enacted Tuesday was a “Save Open Space” program providing written proof that the city would create parks, a community center, a senior center and some agricultural uses on the acreage, if the bond purchase is a success.

“We want a document that references to the bond measure,” City Manager Stephen B. Julian said. “This way, people can have a written explanation when they ask about the bond, and we can say we have a program supporting it.”

The land is north of Junipero Serra Road and is envisioned as a “Central Park” by Mayor Gary L. Hausdorfer. Much of it is covered with dying orange groves owned by former farmers who are having difficulty selling their land because it is under an agricultural preserve zone, enacted by the city in 1977.

Now that the election has been declared, city officials cannot spend public money to take a position on the issue. They can, however, spend money to print and distribute educational information about the bond measure, Julian said.

The bond issue was recommended in a recently completed study saying the city has a shortage of recreational acreage.