BREA : Residents Suggest Uses for 5,000 Acres

A citizen panel that will make recommendations to the City Council on preserving open spaces heard proposals from more than three dozen residents at a spirited public forum last week.

The proposals ranged from setting aside land for parks and nature trails to building a golf course, soccer fields and other recreational facilities in a 5,000-acre area that is not within city jurisdiction.

One proposal that drew cheers was to leave the land as it is, buying it from private owners through a bond measure to create a nature preserve.

The land is north of the city, within its sphere of influence in Carbon Canyon and Tonner Canyon, which are owned mostly by private oil companies such as Unocal and Sante Fe Energy Resources.

Environmentalists consider the land natural habitat for cougars and other wild animals and want to preserve it.

City officials have said Brea will annex the area “as needed”; that is, once a housing tract is approved in the area, such as the proposed Olinda Heights projects by Santa Fe Energy Resources, the land covered by the tract will be annexed.

The reason is simple economics, said Clay Smith, chairman of the task force conducting the open-space study.

“The city won’t have to assume liability and doesn’t have to install roads and other infrastructures on those areas still outside city boundaries,” he said.

Should the entire sphere of influence be annexed, Brea would grow by at least 70%, officials said.

Two years ago, the city financed a study to determine the type of development that may be allowed in that area. The City Council created the task force last year as a follow-up to the study.

“We want to be out front, before developers come in,” Smith said.

The forum last week was just one of the sessions the panel has scheduled to get ideas from the community. The panel has also invited officials from Laguna Beach, Huntington Beach and San Juan Capistrano to talk on open-space issues.

The panel is expected to submit its report to the council in the summer. The report will define open space, determine what types of open spaces are needed and recommend to the council how to acquire or preserve them.

Using the report, the council is expected to adopt guidelines for future development, including passing a hillside control ordinance.

Residents, however, said at last week’s forum that the city must formulate a master plan for the entire area and coordinate preservation efforts with neighboring cities, such as Chino Hills and Diamond Bar.

Vince Mariner suggested that the city “buy the entire area and leave it there.” Jean O’Brien agreed with that plan.

“Tonner Canyon has to be kept pristine,” she said. “Maybe Brea should buy it.”