YORBA LINDA : Bond Sale Proceeds Budgeted for Parks

The city has identified nine priority projects it hopes to develop from the sale of redevelopment bonds.

But unlike previous redevelopment projects, which primarily focused on expanding the city’s economic base, the majority of the money will be spent on public facilities such as sports fields and a gymnasium.

The bond issue was completed this week and raised about $35 million. More than $10 million will be used to finance the nine projects and the rest will be used to refinance two of the city’s existing bond issues at a lower interest rate.

Most of the money from the new bonds will be used for parks and recreation projects, which include:

* East Yorba Linda sports complex. This $4-million project would be similar to the Valley View Sports Complex, with several athletic fields to be used by various youth organizations. The cost includes land acquisition. The location has not been determined, but two potential sites are a 20-acre parcel known as the Ross Property, currently owned by the Catholic Diocese of Orange, and a 12-acre site at the corner of Camino de Bryant and La Palma Avenue.

* Gymnasium/multipurpose facility. Officials expect to spend $2.5 million to build a gymnasium, probably between Yorba Linda Middle School and Hurless Barton Park on Casa Loma Avenue. The facility probably will be jointly used by the city and the middle school.

* Bryant Ranch sports fields. The $500,000 project is part of an earlier agreement between the city and the Placentia-Yorba Linda Unified School District to build sports fields adjacent to Bryant Ranch School.

* Yorba Linda Middle School sports fields. A $500,000 project to build lighted Little League, soccer and softball fields.

* Yorba Linda community center. Officials said $2 million will be spent to complete the new community center.

The city also plans to make some improvements to infrastructure, including:

* Rolling Hills storm drain. Earlier this year the city agreed to construct a storm drain in a canyon paralleling Rolling Hills Drive, to settle a lawsuit with five homeowners on the street. Although the half-million-dollar houses are not in the redevelopment area, the city justified the expenditure because the canyons behind the houses become clogged with water and silt from the redevelopment area.

The city hopes to recover the cost of this project in a lawsuit it has filed against the developer and several other parties, but settlement is at least five years off.

* Town Center commercial site. The cost will be $200,000 to install curbs, gutters and sidewalks in the Town Center area.

* Miscellaneous Town Center improvements. About $500,000 will be used to buy property, make street lighting improvements, install signs and develop parking in the Town Center area.

* City Hall remodeling. A $600,000 project to expand City Hall. This project was included now to take advantage of a change in the law. A law that goes into effect in January will prohibit cities from spending redevelopment money to build or improve city halls unless the project was approved before the end of this year.