FULLERTON : Value of Crossing Easement Disputed

A disagreement between the city of Fullerton and the Orange County Flood Control District over the value of a creek crossing might prompt the city to take the county to court.

The City Council tonight will consider whether to ask a court to decide the value of a crossing over the Brea Creek Channel, linking two sections of Burning Tree Road near Malvern Avenue.

The Flood Control District has said it will allow the bridge to be built, but another county department, the General Services Administration, says the developer will have to pay $100,000 for that easement, said Terry Swindle, Fullerton’s real property agent. A city appraisal values the creek crossing at $1,000.

“The basic dispute is the dollar amount,” said Thomas Galvan, manager of the county GSA’s real estate division.

Fullerton is requiring a developer to build the bridge to allow a second access to an industrial subdivision now under construction. But the linked road would also ease traffic through the area and allow better access for police and fire units, Swindle said.

The developer, Santa Fe Pacific Realty Corp., agreed to build the bridge as a condition of the city’s 1987 approval of the industrial subdivision.

The county’s appraisal of the creek crossing took into consideration how much the developer would benefit by having another street leading into the subdivision, Galvan said. Since the creek is owned by the county, its taxpayers should get fair value for allowing the crossing, he said.

Money gained from allowing the bridge crossing would be used by the flood control district for other projects, Galvan said.