IRVINE : City May Buy Groves to Preserve Them
The city may buy orange groves worth about $4 million in an area slated for development as a way to preserve open space and keep a link to Irvine’s agricultural past, officials said.
The 16-acre, L-shaped area along Jeffrey Road south of the Santa Ana Freeway could be leased to a farmer to pay for its upkeep and perhaps become part of a park as “a reminder of Irvine past,” said Robert C. Johnson, the city’s director of community development.
The plan to buy the orange trees from the Irvine Co. has been discussed for about a year. The company’s orange groves are in an area slated for future industrial and commercial development.
In November, 1989, the City Council asked its planning staff to talk with the Irvine Co. about buying a portion of the orange groves along Jeffrey Road and adjacent to the freeway. The city would purchase them using $4 million allocated to Irvine by a recent state ballot proposition to preserve open space.
Within the next few months, the city and Irvine Co. will jointly hire an appraiser to place a value on the land, Johnson said.
The Irvine Co. hasn’t committed to selling the land but is willing to talk with the city in order to see orange trees preserved, company spokeswoman Dawn McCormick said Friday.
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