Loma Linda Citrus Groves Going the Way of the RDA

Loma Linda’s citrus groves became a casualty of the state's recent dissolution of city redevelopment agencies.

On Tuesday, the City Council followed a staff recommendation and voted to stop purchasing water for the groves. The move is expected to cut a $4,200 a month expense.

With the RDA gone, the city no longer has the funds to maintain the groves, said Loma Linda City Manager T. Jarb Thaipejr.

“And now that the land no longer belongs to the city’s RDA, but to the successor agency, we’re supposed to wind down, sell the property off and give the money to the state,” Thaipejr said.

Mayor pro tem Ovidiu Popescu, however, asked staffers to look into alternate sources of funding to preserve the groves in the best condition possible until the property is sold.

“We want to at least try to and maintain it … so those trees don’t die right away,” Popescu said. “The state is a huge proponent of attempting to save open space and agricultural land.”

The groves sit on 60 acres of property south of Redlands Boulevard and west of California Street.

The city has already reduced the amount of watering. And some trees will likely remain, Thaipejr said. The city wants to save two or three rows of trees along Mission Road and the orange grove behind Heritage Park, since the city still owns that property.

City maintenance workers will install a drip irrigation system for those trees, he said.

“All of us wish we had other choices, but we have to be fiscally responsible,” said councilman Stan Brauer.

On Feb. 1, the state took possession of Loma Linda RDA’s $7.5 million, said Loma Linda’s director of community development Konrad Bolowich.