Zone L1A Proposition 218 Efforts

Community Meeting 

A virtual community meeting is planned to take place on Thursday, September 21, 2023, at 6:00 p.m. The meeting is intended to be conducted via Zoom Webinar and can be accessed via the L-1A Community Meeting link below. City staff will provide a presentation and questions will be answered regarding the upcoming Proposition 218 process.  Use the link to join the webinar on September 21.

View the Community Outreach Letter L-1A (PDF)

Local Landscaping Zone L-1A (History)

This Zone is located in the eastern corridor of the City of Yorba Linda. The properties within this Local Landscaping Zone proportionately share and receive special benefit from the maintenance, servicing, and operation of approximately 1,665,390 square feet of designated landscape improvement area that incorporates an estimated 1,940 square feet of irrigated median landscaping and 740 square feet of non-irrigated/hardscape median area; 1,346,870 square feet of sloped/mostly-sloped landscaped area including 1,332,620 square feet of irrigated landscaping and 14,250 square feet of non-irrigated area; and 315,840 square feet of flat/moderately-sloped landscaped area including 265,450 square feet of irrigated landscaped area and 50,390 square feet of trails.

Zone L-1A experienced budgetary issues in 2018 and projections indicated that the zone would experience a budget deficit. Budget scenarios were developed and presented to community members for consideration in 2019. After conducting community meetings and outreach, it was determined that a Proposition 218 effort could be temporarily deferred, and zone reserves could be utilized. Additionally, certain areas along the railroad tracks were transitioned to fallow maintenance (a reduced-service landscaping technique that is less expensive than full maintenance)  and maintenance along an area of State property for which no easement existed was ceased. 

City staff and consultants have closely monitored the budgets and expenditures for these zones over the past fiscal year. It was previously anticipated that a Proposition 218 process would need to be conducted during Fiscal Year 2022-2023, but this was able to be delayed until Fiscal Year 2023-2024 due to sufficient fund balance availability and modifications made to maintenance strategies. Financial projections continue to indicate that reserves are anticipated to deplete by the end of the upcoming fiscal year, and unless significant changes are implemented to either reduce expenditures or increase revenues, the Zone’s expenses will exceed available revenues (assessments and reserves).

As a part of the Fiscal Year 2023/2024 Engineer’s Report, staff notified Council of an impending need for a Proposition 218 process. This process is being initiated and will culminate in modified assessments for property owners or reduced maintenance levels.

Proposition 218 Process

A full description of the Proposition 218 Petition and Balloting process can be found on the City's dedicated Prop 218 webpage. In general, when a specific Local Landscape Zone’s budget is in a deficit scenario or trending to be in the next fiscal year, a Proposition 218 ballot measure may be warranted. Zone L-1B currently requires such a remedy to correct projected budgetary constraints. Prior to any ballot efforts being undertaken, Council has required that a petition be initiated by property owners within the Zone and then be signed by 50% (+1) of property owners. If the requisite number of signatures are garnered, the owners are provided a ballot to vote on either of the following or a variation thereof:

  • Yes = To increase their assessment in their zone and retain the existing maintenance service levels; or
  • No = To keep the same assessments and reduce the maintenance service levels.

In general, with a Local Landscape Zone No-vote against increasing their assessments, the City will then reduce the amount of landscape maintenance areas it maintains in that Local Landscape Zone and vacate (relinquish) certain City landscape maintenance easements. View a condensed flowchart explaining the Proposition 218 petition and balloting process (PDF).

More Information is Coming Soon!

Check back to see updates regarding the Proposition 218 process for LMAD Zone L-1A. Want to receive periodic updates regarding the Proposition 218 Process? Subscribe to receive LMAD Zone L-1A updates or reach out to the City's LMAD group with questions via email at LmadL1A@yorbalindaca.gov or by calling 714-961-7170.

Determine Your LMAD Zone

To determine if you live in an LMAD Zone, visit Map Yorba Linda and search for your property address (use the LMAD Local Zone layer selection in the top right corner of the mapping screen). You can also access the Map of LMAD Local Zone L-1A (PDF). The PDF attachment displays the boundary lines for properties within the Zone, along with interior street names.