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Residents and land advocates urge council to preserve Prop 70 land amid Center Park plan
Summary
Public commenters and a nonprofit director warned against converting Prop 70-protected farmland for Center Park development; the city manager said the specific plan retains passive agricultural and recreational uses and described an approach to consolidate noncontiguous parcels into a contiguous park while maintaining protections.
At the April 7 meeting, residents and a nonprofit executive raised concerns about use of land subject to Proposition 70 protections in South Ontario and asked the council not to proceed with actions that would remove those protections.
Chris Robles told the council he believed a plan was underway to transfer Prop 70 land into the city’s Center Park area and warned that would be contrary to voter intent. Randy Beckendam, executive director of the Southern California Agricultural Land Foundation, said his nonprofit originally managed Prop 70 lands and that the foundation intends to protect the parcels as farmland.
City Manager (S19) responded that a portion of the northern half of Grand Park is within the specific plan before the council and that the plan, as approved by the state, contemplates passive recreation — demonstration farms, orchards, butterfly gardens and farmers markets — which the city staff said meets the public-purpose test under Prop 70. He described a possible path in which land would be consolidated into a contiguous park and protections preserved in perpetuity through coordination with the county.
The council did not vote to change Prop 70 status during the meeting. Speakers asked the city to avoid any action that would diminish the land’s long-term conservation commitments.
