Should a private developer be given the right to privatize a publicly owned emergency access dirt road if he pays to pave the street?
That’s the debate currently playing out at the Yorba Linda Water District – which provides water and sewer services to most of Yorba Linda and parts of Placentia, Brea, Anaheim and unincorporated Orange County.
The discussion surrounds a proposal by Nick Diaz, a resident that lives near the road and a general manager for a real estate and investment company that a district staff report identifies as a project developer, who is offering to pay to make improvements and pave an access road restricted to emergency use and owned by the Yorba Linda Water District near Highland Reservoir.
Manuel Roman, a retired physician who lives near the road, and a couple other residents are publicly raising concerns about the proposal and granting a potential easement to Diaz.
Roman argues that paving the street is unnecessary, calling it “a road to nowhere,” that it
could create liability for the district, has cost the district over $100,000 of taxpayer dollars already and raised concerns about the process to get public input.
“They’re pursuing the paving of this road that is really just for emergency access, and has been rural,” he said during a phone interview.
“They’re allowing the developer to pay for the paving on this road, and then he’s able to use it as his driveway, so that he does not have to use his own land for driveway purposes.”
During a public meeting last week, Roman said that to avoid liability as the “deep pocket” party, the district should sell the road to Diaz at fair market value and have him grant them an easement to access the road.
Diaz – who did not return an email seeking comment for this story – said at the Nov. 14 water board meeting that he is trying to be a good neighbor and that the road is uneven and someone could get hurt.
He also said that he would take the liability.
“I will do everything in my power to make it kosher,” Diaz said. “I just want a road to be able to drive in and out without having to wash my car every single day because it’s dirt, that’s what it is.”
Roman is not alone in his concerns.
John Hansen, President of the Yorba Linda Taxpayer Association, said at the meeting the amount of money spent on the proposal so far doesn’t benefit taxpayers and agreed it would increase liability for the district if cars drove through the road and an accident occurred.
“Why have we paid $110,000 for really a pet project?” Hansen said. “If vehicles start going in there, you are going to increase the district’s liability.”
According to a staff report, the district has spent close to $60,000 just on a consultant for work related to the improvement project as of Sept. 3.
Gene Hernandez, a Yorba Linda Water District board director, said at the meeting that improving the road is a matter of safety and the project would include building a retaining wall.
“The interest of the water district is that we have a slope that has the potential to flood across that road that does flood if we don’t put up a retaining wall and do some additions to that,” he said. “That’s the public interest.”
He added the street is not for vehicles to drive through and the district is not giving away ownership of property.
District staff said the road would only be open to pedestrians and equestion – something that would be laid out in a developer agreement and voted concurrently on with a potential easement.
Rosanne Weston, the district’s engineer manager, said at the meeting that the terms and conditions for the developer agreement with Diaz about making improvements to a section of the access road – Highland Avenue – would likely come before the board in January.
“We’ve never had a project like this before,” she said. “We’ve done some research, and it’s just going to take a little bit to put that together.”
Joanna Gonzalez, a spokeswoman for the district, said in an emailed statement that the share of costs for the project along with who would be responsible for maintenance of the road would be laid out in the terms and conditions.
Board Director Tom Lindsay said Diaz’s property cuts into the street in question.
“It’s not an easy issue,” he said. “It hasn’t been straightforward.”
Brett Barbre, a Yorba Linda Water District board Director said in a phone interview last week the district has an interest in maintaining their facilities including the street.
“A neighbor who jointly owns parts of the road with us, has asked us if he could pave the road because it’s not really a well maintained road as it is, and he’s willing to pay the money to pave the road, and that’s a good investment for the district.” he said.
Barbre formerly served as the district’s general manager before resigning in 2022.
The rest of the board members did not answer emailed questions about the project.
It was also announced at the Thursday meeting that Board Director Phil Hawkins had resigned.
A Paved Road, a Soccer Field and Lights
Roman is also raising concerns that Barbre is going to bat for the developer’s interests over that of water district customers, arguing that the Barbre was advocating for replacing a water main early under where the paved road would be despite pushback from staff.
Barbre said he didn’t push replacing the main early after staff said it wasn’t necessary.
He also said Roman is upset with his neighbor over a separate issue that does not concern the water district and is trying to drag them into the dispute.
“This is an issue that the district is working on with a resident who wants to improve the road,” Barbre said in a phone call. “He has an issue with a conditional use permit that will be sought at the City of Yorba Linda. We have no role in that.”
Roman said in the phone call that he and other neighbors are also trying to prevent Diaz from installing 16, 22,000-Lumen Lights on 18 feet poles to illuminate a soccer field in the area.
Hansen said at Thursday’s meeting that the presence of the soccer field would result in Diaz’s guests using the paved road.
“When you’re putting in a full size soccer field that is intended for soccer practices with lights, I think you are going to have vehicles driving down that road beyond just foot traffic and equestrians,” he said.
Diaz said he hasn’t practiced on the soccer field in years and wants to add the lights so his kids can play in the backyard during daylight savings time.
He also said he would have people on his property.
“Yes, I might have people over, and people are going to have fun and go around my property,” he said. “And the last thing I want is headaches for anybody.”
Hosam Elattar is a Voice of OC reporter and corps member with Report for America, a GroundTruth initiative. Contact him at helattar@voiceofoc.org or on Twitter @ElattarHosam.
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