City staff briefed council Nov. 6 on options to spend a $700,000 community-benefit deposit intended in lieu of constructing a trail that was previously contemplated in the Agua Mansa Commerce Park specific plan. The money could fund Castellano Trail and related Crestmore Heights improvements; staff presented prioritized options and cost estimates.

Planner Rob Gonzales described community outreach conducted in March, when 15 residents identified trail surfacing, safety features, signage and community amenities as priorities. Staff presented three principal categories and rough cost estimates:
- Trail surfacing along a short, highly used segment of Andalusia Avenue/neighboring rights-of-way: options include decomposed granite (DG) (estimated $400,000'60,000) or asphalt millings/grindings (estimated $80,000
60,000) plus grading and compaction to make the corridor horse-friendly and drivable;
- Trail and monument signage to identify community entries and equestrian crossings (signs estimated about $500 each; monument-entry signage $45,000
20,000 depending on materials and lighting);
- Development of a roughly 3-acre county-owned parcel (adjacent to Rubidoux/Castellano) into a park or equestrian arena; staff and regional park partners estimated that a developed park of that scale could exceed $1 million per acre and likely approach $3 million for infrastructure alone, not including ongoing operations or needed coordination with county landowners.

Staff recommended prioritizing pragmatic, cost-effective trail surfacing and signage improvements that would provide immediate benefit to equestrian and pedestrian users and that would more closely align with the $700,000 deposit. Council members largely agreed and asked staff to organize another community meeting and suggested council site visits to better visualize trade-offs between trail surfacing and full park development.

A resident speaker asked for another meeting to ensure the community's preferences are reflected. Council agreed to return with a refined set of options after additional outreach and site visits.

Clarifying details:
- The $700,000 deposit was provided in lieu of a trail constructed by a developer; staff is charged with spending that money on trail/park improvements in Crestmore Heights.
- Asphalt millings are a recycled pavement product (millings) that can be graded and compacted to provide a drivable, darker-colored surface similar in function to DG but often lower in cost; DG is typically more consistent in appearance and equestrian-friendly but can be substantially more expensive.
- A full park or arena development on the county-owned parcel will likely exceed the $700,000 deposit and require additional funding and intergovernmental coordination.

Next steps: staff will schedule additional community outreach meetings, consider a council site visit and prepare a refined set of options and cost estimates for council consideration.