FULLERTON : Council Votes to Sue County Over Bridge
The City Council voted this week to sue the Orange County Flood Control District in an effort to get a bridge built over the Brea Creek Channel near Malvern Avenue and Burning Tree Road.
The bridge would connect separate sections of Burning Tree Road, creating a second street into an industrial subdivision under construction.
In a 1987 decision, the City Council voted to require the developer, Santa Fe Pacific Realty Corp., to build the bridge and road. At that time, city officials thought the county would grant routine permission to cross the creek, said Terry Swindle, the city’s real property agent.
But the real-estate wing of the county General Services Administration put a $100,000 price tag on the easement for the crossing.
Fullerton officials believe the easement should cost closer to $1,000, Swindle said. The county’s figure is based on how much the private developer would benefit by having a second road into the project, said Thomas Galvan, manager of GSA’s real estate division.
The council’s unanimous vote was to ask a court to force the county to allow the bridge and to set a fair price for the crossing.
“The bridge has nothing to do with flood control, so it looks like the county is using this just to make money,” Councilman Don Bankhead said.
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