O.C. Elections ’92 : Vote to Save Creek Short of 2/3 Majority : Preservation: Supporters call 54.3% yes vote political victory with a message that should forestall development.

A tax measure aimed at raising up to $25 million to preserve Santiago Creek and the last parcel of open space downtown failed to get the two-thirds majority vote needed for passage, setting the stage for development of condominiums on a former golf course, city officials said Wednesday.

Preservation supporters, however, say the fact that the measure garnered a surprising 54.3% of the vote in Tuesday’s balloting is a political victory and sends a message that City Council members dare not ignore.

“We showed that the majority of the people in Orange really care about open space,” said Fred Smoller, a member of the Santiago Creek Greenway Alliance, which fought to get the bond measure on the ballot.

“If the council goes forward with this project now, they’re going to have hell to pay in November,” added Smoller, a political science professor at Chapman University in the Old Towne section of Orange.

City Councilman William G. Steiner disagreed on the significance of the 54.3% support for the measure, which would have added about $25 more a year to the tax bill for a $225,000 home.

“It certainly indicates that a large number of our citizens feel that development areas should be treated in an environmentally sensitive way,” Steiner said. “But it’s not necessarily a mandate.”

Councilwoman Joanne Coontz, who is widely expected to make a bid for mayor in November, said that whatever happens with the parcel, the council is “committed to environmentally sensitive and safe development” of the parcel.

At issue is the former Santiago Golf Course, a 33-acre site that straddles Santiago Creek from Tustin Avenue west nearly to Cambridge Street. The owner, Santiago Creek Associates, a partnership of the William Lyon and Burnett-Ehline development companies, originally proposed building about 100 condominiums and a commercial project on the land. Area residents and environmentalists objected, forming the Greenway Alliance two years ago to battle the plan.

Earlier this year, the council agreed to put the bond measure on the ballot when an alliance survey indicated that two-thirds of the city’s voters would support an increase in their taxes to buy the land. In the meantime, council members agreed that if the tax measure did not pass, the developer could increase the density to 240 units in return for setting aside 13 acres along the creek as permanent open space. And instead of building a commercial project on 2 1/2 acres of the land at Tustin Avenue, the City Council said it would prefer housing for senior citizens.

In final unofficial tallies released Wednesday, Measure Y received 12,732 votes in favor of the tax, and 10,695 votes against. A two-thirds majority is required for such tax measures.

Frank Elfend, a consultant for the developer, said Wednesday that the firm is working up detailed plans for the project, which it hopes to submit to city planning officials within 60 days. The plan provides for a strip of greenbelt along the creek bed that will range from 180 feet wide at some spots to as much as 500 feet wide in others.

“Probably the most important element of this project . . . is how we design the green way,” Elfend said. “Hopefully, we can work with the city and the community so we can design something that is acceptable to the adjacent residents, the alliance and the (county flood control officials) who need to approve the project.”