LANDSCAPING FEE HIKES CONSIDERED IN TWO AREAS; CITY CITES NEGLECTED COST-OF-LIVING ADJUSTMENTS.

Byline: Angela M. Lemire Staff Writer

It's not easy being green - or cheap, for that matter.

More than 1,000 households in two communities will be asked tonight to consider substantial hikes in landscaping assessment fees, to compensate for inflation rates left unadjusted for more than a decade.

Following exhaustive studies of landscaping assessment fees within the Shangri-La district in Canyon Country, a proposal to increase annual bills by $432 goes before voters tonight. Similarly, residents of the Mountain View development in Saugus are being asked to approve a $200 annual increase. Public hearings, followed by votes from residents in attendance, are scheduled at today's City Council meeting at 6:30 p.m. in City Hall.

``By this point, it's more procedural than anything,'' city Parks and Recreation Department Director Wayne Weber said Monday, referring to several public meetings held with residents in recent months.

Weber attributed new landscaping assessment fees primarily to cost-of-living adjustments that Los Angeles County had not made while it governed numerous residential developments built 12 to 15 years ago.

Since annexing the communities and accepting their 31 separate zones as landscaped districts almost two years ago, the city spent the past year analyzing the actual costs of upkeep for more than 500 acres of slopes, vegetation, traffic medians and common areas located throughout the communities, he said.

Shangri-La and Mountain View are among the last districts to undergo adjustments to landscaping fees, he said.

If approved by voters, each of the 182 single-family households in Shangri-La would see their assessment bills increased from $29 to $65 per month - a $432 total increase that brings the annual assessment to $780, according to Parks and Recreation Department figures.

If residents vote the measure down, annual landscape assessments would remain at $348 and city workers would perform only the work the fees cover, Weber said. The development's homeowners association would be responsible for picking up any residual costs to care for the trees, shrubs, flowers and ornamental features in the common areas of the 16-acre development, he said.

Each single-family household within Mountain View, located north of Copper Hill Drive in Seco Canyon, currently pays an assessed rate of $275 per year, or $22.92 per month.

Under new proposed rates, yearly assessments for the zone's 943 single-family homes would total $475 annually, with condominium rates remaining at $270.

Landscaping and maintenance of public fixtures within Mountain View are projected to cost $593,185 in the current fiscal year, but incoming revenue from current assessment fees would cause a shortfall of about $188,600, according to Parks and Recreation Department figures.

As with the Shangri-La community, if Mountain View residents reject tonight's proposal, it would be the responsibility of their residential association to set up a plan to pay landscapers and maintenance crews for work they cannot perform with the current budgeted assessment, Weber said.

Neither option is recommended by the city.

``We were not lobbying any residents throughout the process,'' Weber said. ``Our job was to inform them so they could make informed decisions. It's up to them.''

Following tonight's public hearings, district residents from Shangri-La and Mountain View will vote on the proposed assessment fees by ballot. A 50 percent majority is needed before the council may pass a resolution putting the new levy into effect.

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Photo

PHOTO (Color) Saugus resident Mike Woods strolls through Mountain View Park, in a neighborhood where homeowners' landscaping assessments may go up.

Shaun Dyer/Special to the Daily News