Wildomar's elected officials have long maintained that approximately 27 acres of vacant land adjacent to Ronald Reagan Elementary School was intended for a city park, and Wednesday night the official sign-off was completed: The land is Wildomar's.
What to do with it becomes the next step.
With a 4-0 vote, Wildomar City Council approved a resolution Wednesday to accept a quitclaim deed from the County of Riverside for the two parcels that comprise the parkland.
Councilman Bob Cashman had to recuse himself from the vote because he lives near the property.
According to the resolution, the land is intended to be developed as a city park, and as part of the deal Wildomar is also receiving $300,000 from the county collected from Quimby Park Fees.
Council members publicly thanked Supervisor Kevin Jeffries for seeing the deal through, as did Maria Walker, wife of Wildomar Mayor Tim Walker.
Some council members have complained that former Supervisor Bob Buster let the land transfer stagnate. During his time in office, Buster said the land was acquired by the county in April 2008 for approximately $1.9 million plus an additional $3.4 million in future fee credits. The county then offered the land to the city at the time of its July 2008 incorporation for the purpose of building a park.
Wildomar's ability to pay for its three existing parks -- Marna O'Brien, Heritage, and Windsong -- only proved feasible after the Nov. 2012 election when Measure Z passed. The measure has allowed the city to collect a special tax from residents for the purpose of parks' maintenance.
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Buster was defeated in the 2012 election, so it's unknown what action he may have taken on the land following Measure Z's passage.
The city must now decide what to do with the new park land. During Wednesday's discussion of the quitclaim deed, one person spoke against turning the open space into parkland. A woman who identifies herself as Ms. Miller and frequently speaks against development in the city told the council members that planting grass fields at the site would destroy the habitat and potentially cause harm to the water supply if chemical weed killers were used.Councilman Ben Benoit acknowledged that some of the property may be unsuitable for development and better used as nature trails to be enjoyed by the community. However, he said there has been interest by some to grade and plant part of the land for sports fields.
"I think there's a lot of opportunity here," Benoit said of the property.
Wildomar resident Ken Mayes was on hand Wednesday. He has advocated for a Parks Commission comprised of residents who would advise the city council on parks' matters and make decisions on issues where the city council grants authority to act.
Benoit said he would like to see a future city council agenda item to discuss the possible formation of a Wildomar Parks Commission, and Mayor Tim Walker also championed the idea.
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