Tuesday, August 4, 2015


"Marywood" continued from page 1


vide level ground. The fill was not compacted properly, and the earth is slowly slipping toward two city-owned reservoirs. Signs of the movement are clearly vis- ible in the school cafeteria, where the floor drops seven inches from one end to the other. New Homes is proposing to


demolish all of the existing build- ings, dig down 70 feet to the for- mer canyon floor, and refill and recompact the hill. Materials from the razed structures – con- crete, rock, asphalt – would be used as fill, as would dirt moved from the top of the site to the bottom. The northern portion of the site would be lowered ap- proximately 20 feet; the southern


portion would be raised approxi- mately 35 feet. Neighbors are not convinced


that remodeling the hilltop to the extent proposed will not affect their properties. “This devel- oper’s plans put the stability of these hillside properties at sig- nificant risk,” says Marywood resident Terrie Warner. “Nearby homeowners are in jeopardy of cracked foundations, split patio concrete, and ruined swimming pools. And if our community ‘earns’ a reputation for soil issues and lot slippage, the market value of every home in the area will be damaged.”


Slip, sliding away The school buildings them-


selves, some residents say, are enough to rethink the develop-


Foothills Sentry


ment. While the chapel, auditori- um, classrooms, and office build- ings are not listed on the historic register, they do meet the criteria. Designed by Vincent Raney, a “significant post-World War II architect,” the grounds possess all the elements used to identify structures of “state and national distinction.” That is, “integrity of location, design, setting, ma- terials, workmanship, feeling and association.” There are no plans, however, to seek historical status for the site. Instead, New Homes will mitigate the historical loss by removing all of the artifacts with- in the structures – artwork, mosa- ics, marble, light fixtures, steeple and cross, floral relief panels -- and offer them back to the Orange Diocese for preservation. Traffic congestion is the buga-


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boo of any proposed housing project, and while Marywood’s draft Environmental Impact Re- port indicates additional car trips will not over-tax Santiago Blvd., Terrie Warner disagrees. “The new traffic that comes with the builder’s proposed plan will put Santiago within two percent of capacity [estimated 2,559 daily car trips of a 2,600 capacity],” she reports. “So if only another 42 cars begin to travel this road daily instead of some other route, say for instance, when Tustin Av- enue is backed up, then Santiago will exceed its capacity. Even a modest reduction in the number of houses would offer a signifi- cant improvement in resulting traffic.”


Drought, no doubt While most Orange residents


are complying with state man- dates to cut water usage by 28 percent, the new development’s


Area within yellow line will be graded and recompacted.


consumption of an estimated 20,000 to 24,000 gallons per day is considered “insignificant.” New Homes notes in its draft EIR that the 28 percent reduction does not “prevent new housing, it just places restrictions on how it can be developed.” In deference to the drought, the project land- scaping will consist of less turf, more drought tolerant plants, drip irrigation and smart controllers. Houses will have low flow show- erheads and toilets. New Homes also reports that


when the Marywood School was operating, it used 53,000 gallons per day and conditional use per- mits remain in place today. In other words, if the school were reopened, it would use twice the amount of water as that predicted


for the 40-home tract. Still, Or- ange residents who are collecting gray water to nourish their plants, using paper plates to avoid the dishwasher, and taking short, Na- vy-style showers may find their conservation efforts contradicted by the city’s willingness to accept new housing. “How about no building until the drought predic- ament stabilizes, and we are no longer on water use restrictions?” asks resident Craig Kelsey. “We will be adding 100-plus bodies already drawing on a depleted water reserve.” The comment period for the


draft EIR closed Aug. 3. The Design Review Committee con- tinued its public hearing on the project to a future date, as yet un- announced.


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