IRVINE : Council to Consider Land Sales for $1

The City Council tonight will discuss whether to allow some residents to double the size of their back yards for just $1.

At issue is what to do with a 1.4-mile stretch of former railroad right of way in Irvine’s Northwood community. Residents have complained that the land was meant to be developed as a trail or a bicycle path, but all they have now is a “brown belt” that attracts vandals and graffiti artists.

In May, the City Council decided that instead of building a $2.4-million bicycle and pedestrian path, which the city cannot afford, the city should give residents the option of buying the land. However, a majority of the area’s 202 homeowners would have to agree to purchase all the property because the city couldn’t be left owning scattered parcels.

The council will decide between selling the land at fair market value or for $1 in hopes of getting more residents to purchase the property. After the council’s decision, the city will send letters out to property owners asking if they are interested in buying the land behind their homes.

On one side of the issue are Northwood residents, including some living next to the old railroad line, who want the land to stay as open space. They want to see the land developed as a greenbelt with a meandering path, said Ann Cleland, a resident who has been urging the city to move forward with full development of the trail.

However, other residents do not want the land behind their house to become a pedestrian and bicycle thoroughfare.

No matter what price the council decides on tonight, selling the land is by no means a foregone conclusion, Assistant City Manager Allison Hall said Monday.

Even if all residents in an area want to buy the land, the City Council would still have to vote later this year that it is in the public’s best interest to sell it, she said.

Even land at $1 wouldn’t be cheap. If the council decides that the sections of land are worth $1 and later votes to sell the pieces, residents would still have to pay the legal costs of changing ownership, grading and building new fences. A city report estimated the cost to each homeowner at $9,400.