Beaumont Council Gives Tentative OK to 981 More Houses in Heartland Area 5

The long-idle Heartland planned community project in Beaumont may begin moving again.

Beaumont city leaders gave initial approval Tuesday to an amended agreement for the development at the west end of the city.

The change, which faces a second vote to finalize it at a future council meeting, would extend the expiration date of the deal from 2018 to 2028, with a five-year extension option if certain conditions are met. The vote was 5-0.

The city will receive $3 million either at the close of escrow if the property is sold, or on Feb. 28, 2017, whichever comes first, according to the agreement.

“It is a negotiated dollar amount in exchange for the development agreement” amendment, Kyle Warsinski, associate planner, said by phone this week. That payment would go to the city’s general fund.

The Heartland development plan, approved in 1993, includes 981 residential lots on 228 acres and just over eight acres of commercial property. It sits between Oak Valley Parkway and the 60 freeway, west of Potrero Boulevard. It also includes an elementary school site and four parks, according to a city staff report.

Heartland gains ownership of a well on the property and assumes the city’s obligations for habitat mitigation on the property and dedication of land for permanent conservation.

Warsinski said the agreement relieves the city from conservation responsibility; Heartland’s developers would deal directly with the state Department of Fish and Wildlife. The mitigation and land dedication is intended to offset effects of development on natural resources on the property.

Following issues that arose during a criminal corruption probe of now-former city leaders and state and local audits of city finances, the Heartland agreement reflects the direction of a council majority elected in 2012 and new city leadership.

Instead of becoming part of an almost citywide Community Facilities District, a separate district will be set up where homebuyers will pay a special tax to repay bonds issued for construction of streets, sidewalks, sewers and other public projects. A separate public safety services tax of $419 per lot will be designated for police and fire services, with an annual escalator clause of either the consumer price index, or 5 percent.

A homeowners association will be responsible for maintenance services of common improvements, including landscape, instead of falling under existing city responsibility.

The property has had a number of owners. The city made the original development agreement with SunCal Heartland LLC but in a subsequent bankruptcy filing, SunCal assigned its rights to the current owner as designated by Lehman, a creditor, according to city documents.