ORANGE : Council to Assist in Saving Creek Bed
Residents hoping to preserve Santiago Creek’s bed as a strip of parkland moved a step closer to their goal this week when the City Council agreed to help research ways to buy the land.
In response to public protest, the council rejected a developer’s proposal earlier this month to turn 37 acres of open space into a planned community and shopping center.
Leaders of the Santiago Creek Greenway Committee, a coalition of environmentalists and residents, have gained the council’s support for an alternate plan to turn the site of the former Santiago Golf Course into a public park.
Howard DeCruyenaere told the council that millions of dollars are available to “encourage stewardship and maintenance of streams by the community.”
But, he added, municipal participation is needed to apply for grants through the Parkland Preservation Bond Act, the Urban Stream Restoration Project of the California Department of Water Resources and other sources.
Council members agreed to provide staff support and “petty cash” to hire a consultant, on condition that Lynn Burnett, an official of the Burnett Ehline Development Co. and part owner of the property, be included in all discussions.
The committee is scheduled to report its findings in 90 days.
While Burnett has not announced plans for the property, he has said he will consider selling it to the residents and the city.
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