Clean-up, affordable housing win approval

City Council actions on two high-profile sites – the fenced-in former gas station property along Imperial Highway next to the library and an affordable housing project planned on 3.2 acres of vacant land at Savi Ranch – won unanimous approvals recently.

The expensive remediation of contaminated land at the Imperial Highway and Lemon Drive intersection west of the library was added to the list of projects to be funded by the county's Measure M sales tax.

That means nearly $1.8 million in cleanup costs will be borne by sales tax payers throughout the county and not solely by those who pay the taxes and fees funding Yorba Linda's budget.

With the addition of the former Ultramar station site to a Measure M project list, the city “can immediately begin invoicing” the Orange County Transportation Authority, which administers Measure M funds, “for the mitigation and monitoring expenditures.”

Costs expected to be billed before the end of the current fiscal year June 30 total $177,500, with $922,500 in billings for 2013-14. Invoices in each of the next three years through 2016-17 will be $225,000.

A city-hired consultant now operates vapor extraction equipment and monitoring wells on the site acquired in 2004 for Imperial Highway widening. The original plume of below-ground contamination traveled by groundwater under Imperial Highway toward Polly's restaurant.

Final approval of higher density for a major affordable apartment project on 3.2 acres at East Park Drive in Savi Ranch was granted to non-profit developer National Community Renaissance, usually called National CORE.

Earlier, council adopted 43-unit and 69-unit options for the property, but the positive Measure H vote last June allowed the developer to choose the 69-unit plan with council's concurrence.

Voter approval of Measures H and I on the June 2012 ballot increased zoning densities and allowed new development standards on the nine westside properties and two in Savi Ranch.

The public vote on the two measures was required by 2006's Measure B, which calls for an election to approve major zoning changes, and a positive vote was needed to obtain official certification for a state-mandated “housing element” document.

Densities on the Savi Ranch sites were increased from 10 to 30 units per acre, and with entitlements in place for one of the sites, the new apartments likely will be the first project completed after a successful Measure B vote and the first built after the state's affordable housing numbers were assigned to Yorba Linda.

The development, named Oak Crest Terrace, is expected to come in at 21.5 units per acre and include two three-story apartment structures, a one-story community center and tot lot.

The units will include 15 one-bedrooms, 33 two-bedrooms and 21 three-bedrooms, with eight units reserved for extremely low-income households, 46 for very low-income and 14 for lower-income, as determined by area-wide median income levels.