YORBA LINDA : Officials Dedicate Brush Canyon Park

Nearly 100 government officials and residents dedicated a 7-acre park that will serve residents in newly developed tracts on the east side of the city.

Brush Canyon Park officially opened last week with two lighted tennis courts, a basketball court, baseball diamond, exercise station, soccer field and a 30-space parking lot. The park is the first in the city to have handicapped-accessible playground equipment.

City officials predict the park will be heavily used because many young families live in the east side housing tracts.

“It’s the farthest park to the east we have,” said Steve Rudometkin, Yorba Linda’s director of parks and recreation. “There seems to be a lot of pride in that area and a lot of pride in the park.”

The park, at 28282 Brush Canyon Drive, is within the Bryant Ranch planned development and is near a wildlife corridor north of the Santa Ana River. It is also south of several hundred acres of hilly land that the city is negotiating to turn over to Chino Hills State Park.

The city paid $310,000 to build the park, and Woodcrest & Brighton Homes chipped in another $200,000 for its development, Rudometkin said. Developers also donated the land instead of being charged fees for parkland acquisition, he said.

The Parks and Recreation Department recently opened a neighborhood park at San Antonio Road and View Park Drive, and are building another park near Bryant Ranch Elementary School at 24695 Paseo de Toronto. Construction also is scheduled to begin later this year on a community center at Casa Loma Avenue and Imperial Highway.