Panel May Suggest Annexation to Cut Sewer Assessments

A committee of property owners appointed by the La Canada Flintridge City Council to rescue the city’s first public sewer system may suggest adding new properties to the district to lower the individual cost of assessments, a member said.

The committee was appointed last week in response to a petition signed by 37 of the 87 property owners in the proposed district. The group’s assignment is to find a way to build the system at a price property owners are willing to pay, and report back to the council on June 25.

“Everyone wants sewers, but they are not happy with how much they have to pay,” Mayor J. Bixby Smith said.

Property owners in the small residential and commercial area in the western part of the city object to the allocation of costs of the $1.6-million project, said committee member Paula Collins, who would have to pay $9,600 for each of her two residential properties.

Since land parcels in the city are large, Collins said, individual assessments are high. A solution may be to annex the residential areas north of the proposed district to lower assessments, she said.

Although such an extension of the sewer system would increase overall costs, economies of scale in the larger district would reduce assessments for individual property owners.

The dissatisfaction of property owners is not the only hurdle the sewer project faces. Three weeks ago the council rejected two bids that were considerably higher than the $900,000 construction cost the city had estimated. Public Works Director Fullmer Chapman said he plans to advertise for more bids.

Most of the homes and businesses in the city of 20,150 rely on septic tanks for waste disposal.

Three years ago, property owners in the proposed district asked the council for a modern sewage system. The Crescenta-Canada YMCA, which has had problems with the 14 septic tanks it uses, was a major proponent and organizer of the proposal.

Since then, property owners have been haggling with the City Council over the allocation of the project’s costs.

Collins said property owners think the sewer project is largely benefiting the YMCA and they resent having to pay a high price for someone else’s gain.

Rocco Arre, who owns a car wash and shopping center within the district, said his the total assessment for his property is $70,000 “and climbing.”

“The way they have proposed it is definitely out,” Arre said. “I’m for the sewers, but not in this manner.”

Collins said that a $100,000 increase in the cost of the sewer project was necessary to accommodate a rise in elevation near the YMCA property and that the recreational facility should carry the brunt of that increase.

Chapman denies that the additional cost was solely due to the location of the YMCA. He said change was also necessary to serve residential properties near Rancho Canada Road.

The YMCA’s assessment of $83,000 has already more than tripled from its original estimate after a re-evaluation using the facility’s past water bills as a measure of future sewer usage. Other property owners had complained that the original assessment of $24,000, based on property value, did not fairly reflect the YMCA’s future use of the sewer line.

Dennis Croxen, general director of the YMCA, said the new assessment is fair.

“It is a community asset,” Croxen said of the YMCA. “It is used by one in four families in the city of La Canada. We really function as a recreation department in a very small city.”

Assessments in the district range from $8,900 for a small single-family home to $157,000 for a Ralphs grocery store. About 60% of the district is residential and 40% is commercial.

“We’ve taken into consideration the zoning of the property, its highest and best use and how well it can be developed in the future” in setting assessment levels, Chapman said.