Placentia council approves $150,000 to finish Old Town streetscape design, delays bond financing

The Placentia City Council on May 6 authorized $150,000 to complete the Old Town Streetscape Master Plan’s design work and decided to postpone issuing bonds to fund construction until more tax-increment (TI) or other monies are available. Council framed the move as a middle option between immediate borrowing and indefinite delay.

Consultants and the Measure U Citizens Oversight Committee presented a fiscal review showing the EIFD would likely require general-fund subsidies during the district’s first decade before tax-increment revenues exceed debt service. "We understand too that based on the financing structure that the city is being asked to initially contribute 1,000,000 dollars," a consultant stated during the presentation (speaker 10). Staff and consultants said Orange County has pledged up to $3.5 million of its share to the district, but that county support is capped and city leaders must weigh timing and risk.

Councilmembers debated whether to inject the $1 million upfront as a city loan, scale back the project size, or wait until TI accumulates. Councilmember Yamaguchi moved to allocate $150,000 to finalize design, delay the bond financing until sufficient TI or other funds are secured, and return with construction documents and financing authorization; the motion passed 4 yes, 1 not voting. The council and staff emphasized that completing design is needed to pursue grants and ensure accurate construction bids.

The master plan centers on Bradford and Santa Fe corridors and proposes widened sidewalks, bike lanes, new lighting, landscaping, removable bollards for events, permeable pavers at crosswalks and other features aimed at revitalizing the historic core. Staff said initial construction estimates had ranged as high as $13.5 million but that alternate bid packages and value-engineering were being used to bring the core project under a $10 million construction target.

Staff and consultants also outlined financing mechanics: the EIFD captures incremental property-tax growth above a 2021 baseline (the city receives 13.6% of property taxes and proposed to dedicate 0.5 percentage points of that share to the EIFD; the county would pledge 0.5 of its 5.9% share). Consultants cautioned the first 10 years of the district could be cash-negative, requiring loans or deferred city receipts. Council said the $150,000 allocation is intended to finalize plans and reduce cost and schedule uncertainty before any bond issuance.

Next steps: staff will complete design revisions (including a roughly $150,000 adjustment to accommodate fire apparatus turn radii), prepare bid packages with alternate schedules, continue negotiations with the county partner, and bring construction and financing proposals back to council for approval once funding conditions are met.