WILDOMAR: Vacant lot will become Wildomar's fourth park

County purchased land this week

By AARON CLAVERIE - Staff Writer | Thursday, May 8, 2008 8:49 PM PDT ∞

WILDOMAR ---- The 27 acres that wrap around Wildomar's Ronald Reagan Elementary School don't look like much right now.

Behind the green screens that hang from the chain-link fences along the property's perimeter is wide open space, rolling hills with great views of the mountains to the west.

Some of the land near the fence, during a recent visit, was chock full of weeds and strewn with debris: signs from the incorporation and city council campaigns leading up to last November's election, lawn furniture, buckets and an empty bag of "Hot 'n' Spicy" Chex Mix.

But one day in the future all that land, located west of Porras Road and north of La Estrella Street, will become Wildomar's fourth park, an expanse of green that residents on the east side of Interstate 15 have been waiting for since 2006, the year area voters passed an annual assessment to pay for maintenance of the community's parks.

On Tuesday, the county Board of Supervisors, acting on a request by Supervisor Bob Buster, voted 4-0 to spend $1.9 million to buy the land for the new park from D.R. Horton, the Fort Worth-based home builder.

Tom Freeman of the county's Economic Development Agency said Wednesday that it is Buster's desire to have the Wildomar City Council, which will be seated when the city officially is formed July 1, work with the community to develop a design for the park.

Freeman said some of the ideas that have been collected from residents so far include footpaths along creeks; ballfields for soccer, baseball and softball, and courts for volleyball and basketball.

Some residents also have said the majority of the land, the 20 acres north of the school that abuts Porras Road, should be cleaned up and left "natural." Those residents have said the sports park, which will bring traffic and noise, should be placed on the acreage west of the school, the land accessed by La Estrella.

Some county funding will be made available for design and construction of the park, Freeman said, but he wasn't sure, as of Wednesday, exactly how much.

Michele Newby of Senna Drive, a cul-de-sac located less then a block from the future park, said she is glad there will be something near her home for the older kids of the neighborhood.

The only parks in the area, she said, are for tots, and while Newby enjoys taking her granddaughter to those parks she said the older neighborhood kids deserve something, too.

"We have an old-fashioned neighborhood," she said. "If you come by during a summer evening, you'll see kids playing in the street. They kick a soccer ball. They set up ramps for their skateboards."

While some people might be annoyed by the racket, Newby said the children are polite and are well-supervised by their parents. And she loves to hear the sound of them at play.

"It is great. I tell my daughter all the time ---- she lives in Carlsbad where everything is freeway ---- that she should move here," she said.

When the park is eventually finished, the assessment Wildomar residents pay will jump to $45 from $28.

The $17 increase was designed to cover maintenance of a 10-acre park, which has led some residents to question how the city will be able to afford maintaining 17 more acres than expected.

In the financial analysis prepared before the incorporation vote, there is no projected funding allocated for a parks and recreation budget because of the annual assessment was expected to cover maintenance expenses.

Bridgette Moore, a member of the Wildomar City Council-elect, said Wednesday that the city will have plenty of options other than advocating for a new assessment.

"There's no plan to do that," she said.

Instead, the city could lobby for state parks funding, grants and county money.

Moore, a supporter of the 2006 assessment, said the whole park might not be built at once, which would mean that there wouldn't be a need to maintain the extra 17 acres.

Also, because the terrain lends itself to trails and other types of less intensive uses, Moore said there might be a way to incorporate the natural landscape into the design, saving money and pleasing the people in the community who are calling for more trails and open space.

Moore said she wants to hear from the community and find out what they want.

After listening to residents and figuring out what the city can afford to build, she said a consensus should naturally emerge.

Contact staff writer Aaron Claverie at (951) 676-4315, Ext. 2624, or aclaverie@californian.com.