YORBA LINDA : Landscape Fee Hike Draws Complaints

Angry residents contended this week that the city’s decision to raise the assessment for landscaping and lighting will be a hardship to those on fixed incomes.

“There are a lot of people here that are hurting,” resident Jane Barbour told the City Council Tuesday. “If the people of Yorba Linda knew how much their taxes were going up, this room would be full. You’d have people lining up outside.”

The new assessment sets a citywide fee of $37.88 per homeowner for landscaping of main streets. Some residents on the city’s east side who pay as much as $400 for combined neighborhood and main street landscaping will see their fees drop by $2, said Public Works Director Roy Stephenson.

But most east-side residents until now paid only lighting costs. They will be assessed an additional $38 a year.

“I don’t mind paying my fair share, but I feel that’s too much for those of us who derive no benefit from this district,” said Marn Reames, who added that the west side of Yorba Linda receives less city landscaping service than the east.

Mayor Daniel T. Welch said he reluctantly supported the fee increase, though, because all residents use the main streets. “We should all share in the care of them,” he said.

Without the new fees, Welch said, the city would have to continue paying some landscaping costs out of its main operating budget, which would dangerously deplete its reserves.