Southbrook Neighborhood Park

The City of Fairfield took ownership of the 5 acre parcel at the corner of Gold Hill Road and Canyon Hills Drive from the Seeno Development Corporation in 2005. Fairfield's City Council has mandated that no new park be built without identifying a means of paying for its ongoing maintenance. The City's general fund can no longer afford to pay for maintenance of any new parks.

In January 2012, a community meeting was held at Cordelia Hills Elementary School. City staff outlined several options by which the long-term cost to maintain the planned park could be secured. If maintenance funding is not secured the park will not be built and the land will remain undeveloped. The options presented were:

• Residents living within a certain distance of the park could elect to tax themselves in perpetuity for the parks long-term maintenance.
• West Cost Home Builders and the City would swap same size parcels. The developer would then build 30-35 homes on the existing park parcel. The City would receive another 5 acre parcel on the eastern end of the Garibaldi Ranch subdivision (less than a quarter of a mile away from the existing parcel). West Coast Home Builders would then annex their remaining unbuilt homes (300-350) into a city-wide Public Safety / Park Maintenance Community Facilities District. The annual assessment collected would be sufficient to pay for the parks ongoing maintenance.

The majority of those in attendance at the community meeting were not in favor of a land swap. In the months following the community meeting, sentiment was echoed by a letter writing campaign to City Hall and speakers at several City Council meetings. The City is no longer interested or exploring the land swap. During the community meeting there appeared to be interest in exploring the idea of residents living within a certain distance of the planned park taxing themselves to pay for its ongoing maintenance. Out of this interest, a grass roots community effort has established itself and the process of polling residents about the creation of a special tax assessment district to pay for the parks long-term maintenance has begun.

If you are interested in learning more about this effort please contact Crystal Linnet or Fred Beiner, Manager of Park Planning for the City of Fairfield.