YORBA LINDA : Community College in Area Suggested

A consultant has recommended that a community college be built in Yorba Linda in the next five years, giving a boost to long-awaited plans to add a third campus to North County.

MGT, a national higher education consulting firm based in Sacramento, made the recommendation to state education officials in response to rapid and unexpected growth in the area, especially in east Yorba Linda and Anaheim Hills. The consulting firm also recommended that 13 other community colleges be opened at other sites in the state, including one in San Clemente that would be part of the Saddleback Community College District.

The North Orange County Community College District, which now includes campuses in Fullerton and Cypress, bought 190 acres of land off Fairmont Boulevard north of Yorba Linda Boulevard in 1964 for a new community college.

In the late 1970s, population increases were less than expected in North County, and state education officials recommended that a campus not be constructed there until after the year 2000. But 10 years later, the area’s population boomed beyond projections, and district officials once again saw the need to resubmit proposals for the site.

The district’s two campuses are now near capacity and there is little room for expansion, said Fred L. Head, the district’s dean of institutional development.

The college’s service area, which includes areas within a half-hour’s commute of the campus, would cover Yorba Linda and much of Placentia and Anaheim Hills. According to Head, population in that area will grow from 133,597 in 1988 to 207,336 in 2010.

According to the consultant’s report, the entire district was projected to grow 10%, or by 6,578 additional students, in the next 15 years, said Ann Reed, a spokeswoman for the state Community Colleges Chancellor’s Office.

Public hearings were held on the consultant’s report Tuesday and Wednesday, and the state Community Colleges Board of Governors will discuss it at a meeting Nov. 8.

The board is expected to vote on the proposed new campuses Jan. 10. After that, the matter goes to the California Post-Secondary Education Committee and the state Legislature for approval.