New addition to list of controversial projects

Easily added to a “top 10” list of the most controversial projects ever approved in Yorba Linda's near 47-year history is the 80-unit, three-story Tesoro Townhomes development on four acres at the city's western entrance at Yorba Linda Boulevard and Prospect Avenue.

Although the new condominium community survived on a 3-2 City Council vote earlier this year, governing body members recently approved demolition of the two buildings comprising the now-vacant Yorba Linda Medical Arts facility with a 5-0 tally.

For conflict regarding multi-family housing and residential density levels, Tesoros Townhomes rivals an early 13-acre apartment development proposed for land south of the center that now houses Orchard Hardware and Sprouts Market at Yorba Linda Boulevard and Richfield Road.

Opponents challenged the council's action in a 1970 election, and voters overturned the council-approved zoning rules for the envisioned complex, 1,302 to 887. Years later, the property was developed as Cerro Verde condominiums.

Of course, number one on a top 10 list of disputed developments is the 2005-06 failed Town Center plan that would have remade the acreage surrounding Main Street into a dense, multi-story commercial and residential area.

That controversy led to two successful petition drives, an ordinance requiring a public vote on major changes to city zoning documents, a near-complete turnover of council members in the 2006 and 2008 elections and changes in the city's top management staff.

The demolition permit for the two-story medical buildings, 30,260 and 44,000 square feet, received positive votes from all council members, John Anderson, Gene Hernandez, Tom Lindsey, Mark Schwing and Craig Young, in April.

But Anderson and Schwing opposed the original vesting tentative track map, conditional use permit and design review in February after the project received Planning Commission approval on a 3-2 vote. Anderson had appealed the planners' decision to the council.

Interestingly, a demolition permit request triggers a review of a building's historical significance, under council policy. The medical structures, completed in 1978 and 1983, “are not considered historically significant due to their age.”

In order to be considered for potential historical significance, a building must be a minimum of 45 years old, according to city policy, and a 2010 Citywide Historic Property Survey only evaluated buildings constructed before 1965, Building Official Bob Silva noted in a recent report.

A survey by Norco-based Ambient Environmental conducted for the Newport Beach-based Tesoros Townhomes developer, Prospect Place, found two instances of asbestos material, one in a basement restroom and the other in a second-floor suite, out of 45 samples taken.

A concern raised by some residents concerning residual radiation was dismissed by city officials due to information provided by UCLA's Center for the Health Sciences. According to a city report, “unlike some other forms of radiation, diagnostic x-rays do not have enough energy to make anything exposed to them radioactive.”