PLACENTIA

Preserve Our Past, a local group that failed in its attempts to get a corporate sponsor to save the Brower Orange Grove, is trying to take the preservation effort to the people through a special election initiative.

The organization filed a notice of intent to circulate a petition with the city last week. To qualify the initiative for the ballot, the organization would need to gather 15% of the city’s registered voters--more than 3,000 names--within 45 days, group founder John Penner said.

The organization wants the city to buy the site using Placentia’s estimated $2-million share of the Orange County bankruptcy settlement--a move supporters say would not raise taxes. Once bought, the dilapidated property could be restored and maintained through funding from the city’s utility tax fund, Penner said.