RANCHO CUCAMONGA – As landscape maintenance costs for a large section of the city rise, officials are considering options to either reduce service levels or increase assessment rates for residents.
Options are being considered for the city’s largest landscape district – Landscape Maintenance District, or LMD No. 2.
The district is comprised of properties in an L-shaped area of land bounded by Etiwanda Avenue in the east, the 210 Freeway in the north, the halfway line between Milliken and Haven Avenues in the west, and south above Base Line Road and Church Street in the eastern part of the district.
This fiscal year, a budget shortfall for LMD 2 has been calculated at about $222,000 as spending has outpaced revenue.
As maintenance costs have increased, officials say some sort of service level adjustment or rate increase will be necessary, though residents will be given the chance to weigh in through a survey next spring. Before then, city officials will engage residents of LMD 2 through outreach events this fall.
“We would be able to make the budget work with the same LMD assessment in 1993, but costs are not the same as 1993, so it’s really up to the property owners to decide,” said Deputy City Manager Lori Sassoon said.
“Should we look at improved landscaping or invest in drought tolerant landscaping, or look at reducing our maintenance costs? There’s no way to maintain landscaping (at current rates).”
A meeting
between public officials and residents held recently presented preliminary ideas such as increasing the annual rate by about $38 or decommissioning the care of 1.5 million square feet of grass turf.
Public Works Services Director William Wittkopf said the ideas are not final and plans will be better defined through more feedback from the community.
“The idea of the public engagement process was well-received and a lot of the folks like the idea of being able to have focused and detailed discussion regarding fiscal conditions and what options are available,” Wittkopf said.
Should residents be “supportive of a modest assessment,” then City Council members would consider approval of a mail-in ballot voting process for residents to decide whether rates should be raised.
“There’s no good way to reduce the budget to the way it needs to be reduced,” Sassoon said. “Any way we make that adjustment, there will be an impact on the appearance to the LMD. We’ve made it work for 19 years, but that’s a decision for property owners to make.”
Among LMD 2 residents who has an alternative idea is Jerie Lee of Palo Verde Place. Lee said one option would be to charge higher rates for residents within the district who have observably more landscaping needs than others in the district who don’t.
“Those that have more landscaping to maintain should be paying a higher rate than those of us that have so little,” she said. “I live right off Day Creek Boulevard and Highland Avenue, and all along Day Creek there are very few trees; mostly palm trees and some landscaping … There is very little maintenance.”
She added, “I don’t mind subsidizing the rest of the district, but they should at least pay more attention to Day Creek which has the least amount of care on it. It should look pristine.”
Reach Neil via email, call him at 909-483-9356, or find him on Twitter @InlandGov.
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