Homeowner asks Calimesa for accounting of Rosewood Estates landscaping assessments; city staff pledges follow‑up

At the start of the Calimesa City Council meeting on July 21, Dr. John Usher of 983 Cottonwood Drive spoke during public comment to request an accounting and repairs for a landscaped frontage along Bryant Street in the Rosewood Estates subdivision.

Usher said he and 56 other homeowners (57 total) pay an annual special‑assessment amount of $286.24 per parcel, and he said the landscaped easement had been removed years earlier, leaving “an unsightly long strip of dirt and weeds.” He asked the city for an accounting of the assessment funds and for a plan to restore the landscaping; he said messages to the current public‑works director had not been returned.

City Manager (on the record at the council meeting) responded later in the meeting with a breakdown of the assessment components: $21.50 is the city’s Landscape and Lighting district assessment, $3.74 is a county flood‑control/stormwater assessment, and $261 is a community facilities district (CFD) fee for the school district. The manager said most of the assessment revenue goes to the school‑district CFD, not to the city’s general landscape fund, and noted Proposition 218 (1996) limits increases to that district assessment absent voter approval.

The city manager also told Usher that staff would address the Rosewood Estates frontage in the new fiscal year, that staff would prepare landscape designs and work with South Mesa Water Company to reconnect water service, and that the city planned to begin planting. The manager said staff were awaiting the start of the fiscal year before beginning design and installation work.

Usher provided his contact information and the council said staff would follow up. The council did not take a formal vote on the matter; staff direction was to pursue design and reconnection and to report back to the resident and the council.