Diamond Bar : Vote for Cityhood Likely

A March, 1989, vote to decide whether this community of 60,000 will become a city appears likely after the county Local Agency Formation Commission gave final approval this week to Diamond Bar’s incorporation application.

LAFCO first approved the application July 13, but received three requests to reconsider its decision. The requests caused cityhood advocates to miss the Aug. 11 deadline to qualify an incorporation measure for the November ballot.

The Board of Supervisors will now schedule a hearing to place the matter on the March 7 ballot unless more than 50% of Diamond Bar’s registered voters have filed written opposition to cityhood.

At its meeting Wednesday, the commission voted 6 to 1 to deny a request by six Diamond Bar residents to exclude from the city’s boundaries an area of 1,500 homes west of Brea Canyon Road, called “Area A” by the LAFCO staff. Supervisor Pete Schabarum, who has argued that the area should be considered part of neighboring Rowland Heights, cast the only dissenting vote.

LAFCO granted a request from Arciero & Sons Inc., an Anaheim-based developer, to exclude property along the southwestern boundary of Diamond Bar, where the firm is planning to build a project. But the commission denied the same developer’s request to exclude a parcel in “Area A” because to do so would create an island of unincorporated area surrounded by city land.