LAKE FOREST : Residents’ Park Plan Becomes a Reality

On the surface, it was a parks groundbreaking ceremony like many others.

There were the usual public officials on hand, making the standard speeches about community benefits and recreational amenities. But also in attendance were a group of citizens who have a major interest in the parks. A $1.4-million interest.

For a coalition of homeowners who decided to tax themselves to pay for the development of three neighborhood parks, Wednesday’s ceremonies on the grounds of the planned Montbury Park, on Pittsford Road near El Toro Road, marked the culmination of nearly a decade of effort.

“We’re so excited, we can hardly stand it,” said Dermot Connolly, one of the leaders of the drive to develop the parks. “These parks are now part of our community. We’re not a community without them.”

County officials say this is only the second time since Proposition 13 was passed in 1978 that property owners in the county have supported self-taxation to develop a neighborhood park. The first time was in Laguna Niguel three years ago when area residents agreed to pay $200,000 for a single park site.

“That was on a much smaller scale,” said Ken Scattergood, county special districts administrator. “We’ve had many night meetings with these (Lake Forest) residents. We’ve all worked hard to get this done.”

About 2,400 property owners within a half-mile radius of the parks are part of the special tax assessment district. To raise the residents’ $1.4-million share of the park acquisition and development costs, single-family homeowners will pay about $651 over three years, while owners of multifamily dwellings will be assessed about $489 a unit over the same period.

The balance of the $1.7-million parks program will be financed by development fees and county funds.

Backing for the parks, however, was not unanimous in the neighborhood. Several property owners have loudly protested the tax program, complaining both to supervisors and the local press.

In order to gain the county’s support, parks supporters organized two petition drives in a three-year period that gathered the signatures of about 1,200 residents, Connolly said.

What the neighborhood will get for its money will be the transformation of three large dirt lots into acres of grassy parklands with amenities such as basketball and tennis courts, jogging trails and picnic facilities.