Yorba Linda council moves to abate hazardous properties and confirms assessments and fees

The Yorba Linda City Council voted Tuesday on several agenda items intended to reduce fire risk and fund infrastructure improvements, including a declaration to abate hazardous vegetation on five properties, confirmation of annual landscape assessments and adoption of transportation impact fees.

Community Development Director Nate Farnsworth presented the weed-abatement item as a carryover from previous action and said the city would place historically noncompliant parcels at the front end of the process so abatement could be completed before July 4. The council moved to declare five properties public nuisances, authorize abatement and place liens on the parcels; the motion passed unanimously.

At the public hearing on the landscape-maintenance assessment (ELMAT) engineer’s report, a property owner and civil engineer, Peter Meng, filed a written protest and urged a mandatory modification to address a hazardous slope on Chicago Avenue. Staff outlined the engineer's report and the law governing modifications; council adopted staff’s recommendation to confirm the assessments, with Councilmember Shavinder Singh abstaining from the final vote due to a disclosed property-zone interest.

The council also approved a transportation impact fee nexus study update and adopted updated impact fees; staff said the update reflects inflationary adjustments, newly categorized land uses and corrected schedule entries. Both actions passed unanimously.

Mayor Carlos Rodriguez and city staff framed these votes as steps to mitigate wildfire risk and to keep the city’s infrastructure and maintenance programs funded and compliant with state law. Staff noted next steps include submitting assessment rolls to the county assessor and continuing outreach about the changes to residents.