Cities to Share Windfall for Parks

Santa Clarita, Lancaster, Burbank and 10 other cities in Los Angeles County will share $2.1 million to develop and improve parks, officials said Tuesday.

The money comes from interest earned on the sale of bonds under the Safe Neighborhood Parks Proposition, a countywide measure approved by voters in 1992 and expanded in 1996 that designated a total of $859 million for park projects.

“The proposition envisioned that these additional funds might become available, but there was no way of knowing how much that would be,” said Curt Robertson, a county parks department administrator. “We’re very pleased that these funds are stimulating park improvements in cities throughout the county.”

The Board of Supervisors on Tuesday unanimously approved allocating $160,220 of the excess funds to each of the 13 cities except La Verne and Covina, which requested lesser amounts. All the cities are in Supervisor Mike Antonovich’s 5th District.

The cities plan to match the allocations with their own funds, said Conal McNamara, deputy for Antonovich. City projects to receive funds include:

* An activity center at the National Soccer Center on Fern Avenue in Lancaster.

* Parking and irrigation at Lost Canyon Park trailhead in Santa Clarita.

* Grading and fencing at Tejon Equestrian Park in Palmdale.

* Acquisition of open space for a mini-park in southwest Glendale.

* Improvements to Flint Canyon Trail in La Canada-Flintridge.

* Development of a new park on South San Fernando Road in Burbank.

Cities in other supervisorial districts also have received excess funds in the past to pay for park projects, officials said.