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By Tina Richards The Orange Planning Commis-


sion unanimously recommended approval of a 40-unit develop- ment on the site of the former Marywood Catholic School atop Villareal Street, during a public hearing, Sept. 21. Now, the New Homes Com-


pany has only to gain city council approval before breaking ground on a project that will require the demolition of the historic Mary- wood school buildings and cha- pel, and force the hillside on which they sit to be excavated and rebuilt from the bottom up. Neighbors of the Marywood property have expressed their concerns about the impacts that vehicle traffic generated by the 40 new homes will have on their nar- row residential streets and Santi- ago Blvd. They are also leery of the noise, dust, truck traffic and disruption two years of demoli- tion, excavation and construction will levy on their neighborhood. And, protective of their commu- nity ambiance, they’d like to see the development scaled back by a few units so it “fits” better.


Good to go Their objections, however,


were overruled by the legal lan- guage of city codes and the Envi- ronmental Impact Report (EIR). The anticipated noise, pollution, and truck traffic generated by the project in the short term are with- in municipal standards. Traffic studies that focused only on in- tersections along Santiago Blvd. (not side streets or the nearby 55/ Lincoln interchange) determined


Interim


Orange city manager now


permanent Rick Otto, who has been inter-


im city manager in Orange since April, was named to the perma- nent position by the city council, Sept. 8. The former assistant city manager, Otto stepped up for the interim assignment when then- City Manager John Sibley retired. Otto has over 26 years of local government experience, includ- ing positions with the cities of La Mirada and Rancho Palos Verdes. He has worked for the City of Orange for the past 18 years, serving in a number of different capacities, including assistant city manager, interim community development director and senior economic development manager. As city manager, Otto intends


to lead the Orange team in its mission to provide excellent cus- tomer service for residents, busi- nesses and visitors.


that congestion at build out is within two percent of the “low- est acceptable service,” and the impact of nearly 400 car trips per day on residential streets is “in- significant.” The New Homes Company’s


site plan meets the R-1-6 zoning designation that has been in place on that parcel even as it housed a Catholic school. The city’s gen- eral plan allows for two to six homes (averaging 4,400 sq. ft.) per acre with minimum 6,000-sq.- ft. lots. The builder is proposing less than three homes per acre on minimum 7,000-sq.-ft. lots. The only significant impact identified in the EIR is the loss of a cultural resource, that is, the architecture and history of the buildings slated to be torn down. The builder and the city agree that preserving the buildings is not a viable option because they were built on unstable ground. Geo- logic studies have not been able to determine if the movement has stopped or not, but with two City of Orange water tanks located at the base of the slope, the city would prefer to stabilize the hill. In addition, continual slippage or compaction will eventually ren-


Foothills Sentry


der the structures unsafe. To mitigate the cultural loss,


New Homes has arranged with the Catholic diocese to retrieve all of the artifacts before demolition, and some of the salvageable ma- terial will be reused in the project.


The road not taken While neighbors who will be


affected by the development find the city’s sentencing of Santiago Blvd. to “lowest acceptable ser- vice levels” galling, and fervently believe that the demolition/ex- cavation exercise will stomp on their “right to quiet enjoyment” of their property, they are infuri- ated at the city’s refusal to apply “infill development” standards to Marywood. Created in 2004, largely to pro-


tect Old Towne, the infill devel- opment guidelines are intended to preserve neighborhood character and streetscape integrity. Us- ing those guidelines, Marywood neighbors believe the project might look different. If cat- egorized as “infill,” Marywood would have to “respect existing residential patterns, follow the es- tablished scale and massing of the existing streetscape, and avoid


abrupt changes in neighborhood character.” That is, the proposed two-story mini-mansions would more likely be single-story ram- bling, ranch-style houses. “This isn’t Aliso Viejo,” resident Mi- chael LeBeau points out, in de- fense of the “infill” designation. In addition, infill guidelines discourage gated communities. As it stands, Marywood will be gated and residents are insulted by the concept. “Putting a gate there suggests that extra security is needed,” says Hugh Devaney, “or that the new homeowners are an elite class that existing residents can’t share the streets with.”


Maybe so, maybe no While the EIR clearly describes


the project as “infill develop- ment,” city planners say it isn’t. Because the criteria for infill de- velopment is poorly defined in city documents, Marywood’s sta- tus is open to interpretation. Infill development is considered to be “four houses or less on a parcel” or “new single family dwellings.” The city says, at 40 homes, Mary- wood is too big and that infill standards do not apply. Neigh-


Tuesday, October 6, 2015 Marywood development gets the nod from Orange Planning Commission


bors say Marywood is, in fact, “new single family dwellings,” and so the guidelines do apply. Meanwhile, New Homes has


agreed to a few concessions to satisfy residents. While it consid- ers the gated community to be a marketing asset, it may be will- ing to provide pedestrian access. Instead of grading 13 hours per day, the work schedule has been reduced to eight hours per day. And crushing building materi- als on site to be used as fill will eliminate some 1,300 truck trips up and down Villareal. The City of Orange, however, dismisses residents’ concerns about negative impacts because, while they may be heinous to those who live there, they are well within legal limits. Terrie Warner lives within a mile of the project. In its response to her comments on the EIR, the city said that her “right to quiet enjoyment” was ir- relevant. During the hearing, New


Homes Vice President Doug Woodward said, “Marywood is not a building, It’s not an invest- ment. It’s where you live.” “Exactly,” Terrie Warner says, “exactly.”


Rick Otto


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