Supervisors OK Assessment District for Completing South County Roads

In another move toward filling in the gaps in major roads in south Orange County, the Board of Supervisors Tuesday approved formation of an assessment district aimed at completing the Street of the Golden Lantern and Camino del Avion.

Golden Lantern will extend from Crown Valley Parkway on the north to Dana Point Harbor on the south when the 2.12 miles of gaps are closed, giving motorists an alternative route parallel to the San Diego Freeway. Camino del Avion will run from Crown Valley on the west to Del Obispo Street on the east when 1.12 miles missing from its length are added, providing an alternative to Pacific Coast Highway through Dana Point.

In addition, a gap of about 500 feet on Niguel Road south of Camino del Avion will be filled.

Construction is expected to begin this summer on the $25-million project, which will be paid for by the 10 developers owning property in the assessment district.

The J.F. Shea Co. owns the bulk of the property in the 982-acre district, where more than 4,000 single- and multiple-family homes and 30 acres of commercial development are planned.

Benefits for County

County officials said the project will be cheaper for the developers than it would be for them to build the roads individually as development proceeds in the area. That is because formation of the assessment district allows the developers access to the tax-free bond market, reducing the costs of their financing.

The county benefits, officials said, by getting two major and much-needed roads completed sooner than expected.

Supervisor Thomas F. Riley, whose district includes the more than three miles of roads that will be built, said the project demonstrates the “very best in a . . . public-private partnership.”

Last week the supervisors used a different technique to accelerate construction of roads.

The board approved its first developer agreement, guaranteeing Shapell Industries Inc. no interference with plans for a 5,200-unit residential development in exchange for early construction of nearby roads.

The Shapell agreement will provide for construction of a stretch of Moulton Parkway in Laguna Niguel by June 30, 1989, and accelerated construction of a portion of Alicia Parkway. Golden Lantern runs north to Crown Valley; beyond that the road is called Moulton Parkway.

Underscoring the supervisors’ action Tuesday was a report by the county Environmental Management Agency on the road program in Riley’s district, which runs along the coast south from Newport Beach to the San Diego County line and inland generally to Interstate 5.

The report said piecemeal road building and an imbalance between job centers and residences had strained existing roads in the area, and it recommended that priority be given to “completing existing gaps” in the system.

It also said that “timely implementation” of the proposed San Joaquin Hills freeway is “critical.”

In a separate action Tuesday, the supervisors chose LSA, an Irvine firm, to prepare environmental documents for widening the Santa Ana Freeway between the Garden Grove Freeway and the Artesia Freeway. Supervisor Don R. Roth said the LSA contract is estimated to be worth $200,000 to $350,000, depending on how much of the work Caltrans does and how much it has LSA do.