Time to vow 'I do' on low-density pledge

Our City Council members and the Town Center developers are missing a unique opportunity to build true community consensus for the Old Town redevelopment project.

Yorba Lindans have long supported downtown refurbishment plans, but many residents oppose eminent domain and want to maintain the city’s historic low-density environment.

However, instead of addressing these important issues, the developers are using political consultants and a public relations firm to sell their “new urban” concepts to residents.

And instead of responding to genuine concerns, council members lecture the public about the “right course” for developing “the heart and soul” of the community.

Council members aren’t asking developers tough, hard questions. They’re tossing out “softballs,” to build support for the developers’ high-density retail and residential plans.

I recently praised Mayor Keri Wilson’s efforts to reduce housing density on Site 13, the former strawberry field on the east side of Lakeview Avenue just south of Lemon Drive.

But during a tour of the Old Town area, a developer told me the density on the property just across the street would be correspondingly increased. And another developer said the density “could be lower,” or, surprise, “might be higher” in the final submitted plan.

Troubling to many residents is eminent domain authority, allowing the city to take an owner’s private property to pass on to other private parties for economic development.

Of course, council members say they don’t want to exercise that power, claiming it is “just a tool in the tool belt,” or, as one councilman revealingly said, “a sledgehammer.”

But the council continues to portray downtown property sales to the city as “willing-seller” transactions, as if the unspoken threat of eminent domain didn’t exist.

And council members are adding to the angst as they consider new zoning that could bring heartbreakingly higher density and height allowances to a wide Old Town area.

Also alarming residents is talk about the project’s future phases, including relocating the library and City Hall, moving more historic buildings and repositioning other businesses.

The addition of housing units to the Yorba Station shopping center and a suggested realignment of businesses closer to Imperial Highway is another concern of residents

Eliminating eminent domain authority and demanding that developers follow the city’s historic low-density zoning would bring a broad consensus to the project. Such action would result in an Old Town project which truly reflects the city’s semi-rural heritage.

A FINAL NOTE—Council members often describe Yorba Linda’s two-year relationship with the Old Town development firm Creative Housing Associates as an “engagement.”

Perhaps the council should call off the forthcoming marriage, unless the developers can deliver a plan that maintains the city’s low-density housing heritage and allows Old Town commercial and residential property owners to remain on their land.

Council members will find plenty of fish in the sea, when casting about for a developer willing to honor low-density values above profit-producing retail and housing units.