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New Shot Fired in Parks Battle: Community Services District Charges That Elk Grove is Taking Park Funds From Two Infill Subdivisions.

Posted on: Sunday, 19 February 2006, 12:00 CST

By Loretta Kalb, The Sacramento Bee, Calif.

Feb. 19--A legal battle over whether the city of Elk Grove may build its own parks system intensified Wednesday with a park district complaint that the city is taking park funds from two infill subdivisions.

The Elk Grove Community Services District, in an amendment to its 1-year-old lawsuit against the city filed Wednesday, said that when the city approved the subdivisions, it designated itself - instead of the district - as responsible for parks serving the projects.

That means a loss to the district of about $1.6 million in park development fees now destined for the city, the district said in a press release.

Last year, when the city announced it would take development fees and build its own parks in a 1,900-acre area of Elk Grove, the district calculated its lost park fees in the millions of dollars.

With the city's move to take infill park development fees as well, the threat to district finances was heightened.

"Before, we were talking about a discrete portion of the Elk Grove Community Services District," said Kevin T. Collins, litigation counsel for the CSD.

"Now, we're talking about little isolated pockets throughout our district where they are not going to give us our fees. They are now impacting the entire district on a communitywide level. That's going to hinder our ability to provide parks and recreation in the future."

In its filing Wednesday, the district cited the Quimby Act, which requires developers to pay fees or set aside land for parks to achieve a minimum of 5 acres for every 1,000 residents.

In this case, according to the lawsuit, the city is keeping fees coming from Sheldon Terrace, which the City Council approved in November, and Tegan Estates I and II, approved last month.

Sheldon Terrace calls for 214 residential lots at Sheldon Road and Highway 99. Tegan Estates I and II, northeast of Laguna and Franklin boulevards, will have 87 single-family lots.

"Under the Quimby Act, it is required ... that the fees or land dedication go to the entity that is providing parks on a communitywide level," Collins said.

He said that description fits the district, which serves a 106-square-mile area and has more than 70 parks. The district boundaries include all of the city of Elk Grove's 42 square miles.

The city itself, by contrast, has no parks. But it plans to build 165 acres of parks in Laguna Ridge, southeast of Bruceville Road and Elk Grove Boulevard.

The Quimby Act was never an issue in the Community Services District's original suit, filed in February 2005 after the city announced plans to build parks in Laguna Ridge.

The act did not apply in Laguna Ridge, since the city required that developers build far more parks per capita - 9 acres per 1,000 residents, or 80 percent more than the minimum required under Quimby.

Instead, the district's initial lawsuit said it should continue to be the sole provider of park services under the terms of Elk Grove's 2000 incorporation.

The city countersued in April, asking a judge to affirm its right to build parks.

The next court session is scheduled for April 17, when a judge could set a trial date.

Meanwhile, legal costs have climbed. The city recently said it has spent nearly $180,000 in the legal battle; the district, $135,000.

Cody Tubbs, city spokesman, said, in an interview Wednesday, that the two sides need to move beyond the lawsuit.

"The courts will resolve these issues in due time," Tubbs said. "It's time to look beyond that and sit down and have a respectful, civil dialogue that flushes out all these issues in a collaborative fashion."

The Community Services District urged the city to meet last summer, but specified that it would do so only with a mediator. The city declined.

"When we tried to meet without a mediator, it quickly became politicized," said Steve Capps, spokesman for the Community Services District. "We absolutely agree we would like to put this lawsuit behind us.

"So let's sit down and meet with an independent mediator. That shouldn't be a problem if they truly want to talk."

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Copyright (c) 2006, The Sacramento Bee, Calif.

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Source: The Sacramento Bee

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