The Laguna Woods City Council voted unanimously to declare a small portion of City Center Park (24121 Moulton Parkway, APN 616-012-18) exempt public land, a procedural step the city says is necessary before it can formally lease the parcel to the Orange County Fire Authority (OCFA) to build a new fire station.

City Manager Chris told the council the proposed ground lease would run 99 years, start in December and include no ongoing rent; OCFA would make a one-time predevelopment payment of $200,000 and reimburse the city’s actual park-improvement costs up to $750,000. The lease would also require OCFA to install fire-lane striping and signage, construct a roof over the existing trash enclosure by the date specified in the conditions, and add a minimum 5-foot sidewalk from Moulton Parkway to the park. Staff said the state legislation (SB 475) that cleared the way in 2023 requires certain park improvements and timing steps.

Chris described the public-safety rationale: Station 22, he said, handled nearly 45,000 calls over five years and far more simultaneous incidents than other stations, creating coverage gaps on the city’s western side. A smaller “bumper” station sited in the lower portion of City Center Park would pull much of the western area inside a five-minute response radius, the presentation showed.

The lease also includes noise controls (no nonemergency siren testing on-site; limits on amplified outdoor sound), and provides the city with indoor locker and office space for the sheriff’s deputies and animal-services staff plus two signed parking stalls. Staff said OCFA would build those facilities at its expense and, under the lease, would perform limited park maintenance tasks such as recompacting decomposed‑granite walking surfaces and refreshing mulch twice a year.

Council members and residents raised questions about site grade, pedestrian access, impacts to the serpentine walking path, and the location’s steepness. Staff said the leased area is very small (roughly 0.2 acres) and that a portion of the park would remain open; they described prior coordination with the Golden Rain Foundation and an access-easement agreement with the Altura Water District.

Because the Department of Housing and Community Development asked staff to add a sentence confirming the parcel does not meet certain statutory characteristics (e.g., not in the coastal zone or Tahoe region), the council rescinded the earlier resolution and re-adopted an amended resolution at the same meeting to reflect that language and expedite state review.

Next steps: staff said the city will submit the amended resolution to HCD for a 30-day review period; council cannot approve the final ground lease until that review period elapses or HCD responds. Staff also said OCFA must obtain a site development permit by June 30, 2027, and begin operations by Dec. 31, 2029, or the city may have grounds to terminate the lease under specified conditions.