UPDATED: County Agrees To Give Wildomar 27 Acres Of Parkland

Updated June 6 at 12:25 p.m. to include additional information from Supervisor Kevin Jeffries' office.

In May 2008, the county purchased 27 acres of parkland on Wildomar’s east side at a price of $1.9 million.

Now that land will be Wildomar’s.

During Tuesday’s Riverside County Board of Supervisors meeting, the supervisors approved a notice of intent to quitclaim deed the property to the city.

The city is not required to pay the county for the land, known as La Estrella Park, which is located off La Estrella Road near Ronald Reagan Elementary School.

According to county documents, the county originally purchased the land with Quimby fees for the purpose of development of a community park in what was then unincorporated area.

After incorporation, the county held on to the land, with then-First District Supervisor Bob Buster saying the city needed to first provide financial assurances that it could maintain the parkland.

Whether Wildomar can now develop and maintain that space for a park is unknown. The city passed Measure Z in November, which allows for an annual $28 special tax on Wildomar property owners to maintain the city’s three existing parks.

In order to get the three parks ready for opening, a local church has agreed to raise funds and use some volunteer labor for improvements. City officials have said they will then use revenues from the Measure Z special tax to pay for ongoing maintenance at the three parks.

However, in the latest deal the city is getting more than just than acreage. The office for First District Supervisor Kevin Jeffries has confirmed there will be approximately $300,000 in Quimby fees transferred to the city for the purpose of improving the 27 acres. The fees were collected from developers for the purpose of parks and will be released to the city for upgrades and maintenance.

Any decisions on what to do with the 27-acre La Estrella property must first be discussed in a public hearing where residents can weigh in. 

According to county documents, the deal benefits the county and city. 

“Transferring ownership of the land to the City would be in both parties best interest as the City would have direct control of future development at La Estrella Park,” the documents read.

In an interesting twist, the city still owes the county more than $1 million related to incorporation.

Details of the land transfer agreement will come before the supervisors again on or after June 18.