The Meadows, Lake Forest by Toll Brothers

Will be moving in soon and am excited to see who the neighbors will be. I've been told they are cool, relaxed dog-loving people. We'll see if they end up moving in.
 
so if they do go ahead with a new school, how would that be funded? If it requires a vote for MR, I am pretty darn sure it will be voted down. People in LF are in LF for a reason, keep the MR in Irvine.
It's already been funded by Toll Brothers as a condition to buying the property. No Mello Roos needed. That said, the school district isn't required to use that funding for a new school, they can allocate it to other schools if they so decide.
 
It's already been funded by Toll Brothers as a condition to buying the property. No Mello Roos needed. That said, the school district isn't required to use that funding for a new school, they can allocate it to other schools if they so decide.
Someone could correct me if I'm wrong, but I believe Toll Brothers gave the city the land, but not funding the costs.
 
Is it good? I saw it when we went to visit the site, but haven't had the chance to try it.
It's decent... lots of different sauces (including teriyaki which I've never seen at a MBBQ)... the pocket sesame bread is harder than the ones at the Lake Forest Genghis Khan (RIP) but the price is reasonable for AYCE.
 
what's the meeting for? the decision has been made. not like homeowners can do anything right?
Guess we’ll find out soon enough.

On another note, just began the process of moving in. Toll did a great job with the home design(s); there are lots of windows to bring in natural light. Of course YMMV depending on which lot. Happy with ours though.
 
Guess we’ll find out soon enough.

On another note, just began the process of moving in. Toll did a great job with the home design(s); there are lots of windows to bring in natural light. Of course YMMV depending on which lot. Happy with ours though.
Enjoy! Is the pool open yet? We love spending the summers at the community pool in baker ranch, TB does a great job with amenities.
 
Who wants to provide a public comment to the school board? You need to arrive before 6:00pm to reserve a spot to comment. Public comments are limited to 3 minutes. 25631 Peter A. Hartman Way, Mission Viejo, CA 92691

I even drafted up a speech!

Hi Members of the Board and fellow citizens,

I'm someguy and I’m here to discuss the dealings between Toll Brothers, a nationwide home builder, and SVUSD.

In November 2019 Toll Brothers filed plans with the City of Lake Forest that included a school site at the south east corner of Bake Parkway and Rancho Parkway next to their community called “The Meadows”.

2 years later in the builder began soliciting sales for their homes in the community. The builder’s agents informed potential buyers of the proposed school site, which likely attracted buyers as word spread. Deep in their 300 page contract the builder disclosed that they may develop the site into high density housing if a school is not built.

Today it's finally becoming clear that the district is not going to build a school at the proposed site. What did the district discover about that site after 4 years? According to your meeting minutes, the district noted that building a school would cost a lot of money. The district notes that there is room for students at Lake Forest Elementary and Serrano Summit Intermediate schools. The district notes that the California Department of Education expressed “very significant concerns about the site being used as a school site”. Armed with this information uncovered over the course of 4 years, the district is rejecting the land offer, which will allow the site to be developed into more homes, potentially high-density homes. And the kicker? The district will be collecting the legally required development fees plus an extra 25%.

Congratulations for enabling the home builder’s marketing ploy these past few years in exchange for an extra 25% in fees to develop the site into more homes. The losers are buyers who naively thought the district would attempt to add to their education infrastructure, reduce classroom crowding, and place elementary schools in close proximity to the thousands of families at Baker Ranch, Serrano Summit, and The Meadows.

But my real question is who let this ruse go on for so long? 4 years to figure out schools are expensive to build? 4 years to figure out the CDE had “very significant” concerns about the location? 4 Years to figure out you have no problem stuffing more children into your nearby overcrowded schools?

I’m not a detective or a lawyer, but I know enough to know when something sinks. And this reeks of corporate/government sleight of hand. You must have, and should have, known that this school site would not proceed well before today. It doesn't take 4 years to realize schools cost a lot of money, that there are other schools nearby, and that the CDE has very significant concerns about a school site. You appear to have intentionally slowed or obscured the inevitable failure of this school site from the public, which enabled the builder to continue their marketing ploy, in exchange for extra development fees.

Whatever the explanation, people deserve to know which of you is incompetent, in the pocket of Toll Brothers, or both. I suggest you are each investigated. You are clearly of service to something other than setting good education policy.
 
4 Years to figure out you have no problem stuffing more children into your nearby overcrowded schools?
According to a study they did in March 2022, there are 304 available seats at Rancho Canada. The school is at 65% capacity.
From my research, there is clearly room in various Lake Forest area elementary schools but the rub is, it's not in the neighborhood.
 
According to a study they did in March 2022, there are 304 available seats at Rancho Canada. The school is at 65% capacity.
From my research, there is clearly room in various Lake Forest area elementary schools but the rub is, it's not in the neighborhood.
That may be true, but the board minutes specifically mention Lake Forest Elementary to house students from the TB project. That gem of a school apparently averages 122% of the state average student:teacher ratio (27 at the school, 22 state average)

https://www.greatschools.org/california/lake-forest/3994-Lake-Forest-Elementary-School/
 
As a side note, but related, between The Meadows, Baker Ranch, and Serrano Summit, there will be 1,658 new homes added to this area. Napkin math (average property tax basis of $1.25M, 1.1%) shows that's $23M of additional revenue every year for the county to spend on local services. Not a single new school built to serve this area. WTF Lake Forest? WTF SVUSD?
 
131 seats at lake forest elementary. Rancho Canada and LF elem are the same distance from the new TB development.
I don’t disagree with your WTF-ness. It’s something I’ve talked about on here for awhile. But the district doesn’t want to build new schools while it’s shuttering schools, and residents don’t want to fund any education measures.
 
I agree it's not a good look to be shuttering schools while building new schools, but these people are charged with setting good education policy. If a school can be relocated to better serve a majority of attendees & families, that sounds like good education policy. Bad optics though, I get it.

As far as funding, $23M +/- per year in property taxes (those are generally tagged for local fire, police, and education) over the last few years and indefinitely into the future with 2% increases means no additional education measures are needed. Plus the CDE was going to cover half of the construction costs.

A school at the Meadows seems doable and good for the nearby neighborhoods, but lacks the political will.

The more cynical perspective might be the plan was always to build houses there, but some clever strategy / briefcases of cash to the right people allowed TB to market land as a "proposed school site" to potential buyers for the last 18 months and flip the script after 2/3rds of the houses were sold or in escrow. Oh, and those beautiful central amenities buyers expected to share between roughly 500 households? Now they need to make room for all the households built on the school site.
 
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