Countywide : County Looks for Income From Land

Searching for new ways to ease their annual budget crisis, top Orange County administrators are hoping to generate income from county-owned properties, including a parcel at Katella Avenue and Douglass Road in Anaheim that is an alternative jail site and part of Featherly Regional Park.

In a report released Monday by the General Services Agency, the County Administrative Office and the Environmental Mangement Agency, officials said the county’s landholdings present valuable opportunities for the county.

“Vacant or under-utilized county-owned property could be used by private persons, firms, or corporations through lease arrangements or joint-venture development to generate additional long-term revenues,” the study said.

The Board of Supervisors will consider the report at its meeting next Tuesday.

Thurman Hodges, a senior real property agent in the General Services Agency, said that some of the county’s properties have become very valuable as the county has grown and should be viewed as potential income sources if they are not being fully utilized. Since the passage of Proposition 13, Hodges said, the county has been forced to look for additional sources of revenue.

General Services Agency Director R.A. Scott said the Revenue Development Program could bring the county more than $5 million a year. The intent of the program is to earmark the money for new capital projects, Scott said.

One project that could be controversial is the proposed upgrading of the campgrounds at Featherly Regional Park to accommodate recreational vehicles with utilities hookups. In addition to recreational campers, many homeless people live in the park--engaging in what county officials call “transitional residential use.”

The park is within the city limits of Anaheim north of the 91 Freeway at the Gypsum Canyon exit. Nearly 600 acres of the park is classified as wilderness or a natural area and would remain unchanged.

Robert G. Fisher, director of the county’s Department of Harbors, Beaches and Parks, said between six and 10 families who are paying the minimal camping fees at Featherly have been identified as homeless or attempting to find a home. The current fees are $10 per night at each campsite, $2 for each extra vehicle and $1 for each dog. Seniors 60 and over are charged $5 per night.

Fisher said these people may have to pay higher fees if the park is improved and a lease is negotiated with a campground operator.

But, Fisher said, food-assistance programs held at the park by churches on Sundays are creating parking and other problems for the park rangers.

The county estimates the improvements at Featherly would generate an additional of $350,000 a year.