YORBA LINDA : City Settles Suit Over Price Club Site

Yorba Linda officials have settled a lawsuit with the developers of a 200-acre industrial park on the east end of the city that involved construction of a Price Club near the site.

SAVI Ranch Associates filed suit against the city in June objecting to plans to develop the 117,000-square-foot discount warehouse at the site, claiming that it would contribute to traffic congestion, pollution and noise and would diminish the value of a commercial and industrial park they have been building in the area.

City officials disagreed, and late last year, the city Redevelopment Agency purchased the land near Weir Canyon Road and the Riverside Freeway for about $8 million, hoping to reserve it for a Price Club, which could bring in valuable tax dollars.

Under the settlement plan, Price Club will purchase the 13-acre parcel for $8.2 million. In turn, the city will make a $500,000 payment to SAVI Ranch. Once Price Club takes out a building permit, the city will make another $500,000 payment to SAVI Ranch, which is managed by Hillman Properties West Inc. of Newport Beach.

“Basically, our position was that they could not put retail there,” said Thomas E. Gibbs, the attorney for SAVI Ranch Associates. “. . . The payment is to reflect the decrease in the value that would result in the development on the property.”

City officials said the settlement would be paid within a few years, after Yorba Linda collects some sales tax dollars. Price Club could bring in $45,000 or more a month to Yorba Linda, city officials said, adding that Price Club has plans to open a store at the site by Christmas.

“If it all (goes through), it’s a win-win situation for everybody,” City Atty. Leonard Hampel said.

“It will put SAVI Ranch in the position of now wanting the Price Club to come in because that’s the only way they would get paid,” he added.

SAVI Ranch developers have said they planned their business park for research and development industries and not retail outlets.

“I think everyone worked hard to come up with a fair settlement,” Gibbs said. “SAVI was really sincere about its claim. . . . It’s hard when you are next to a Price Club to do a high end commercial.”