Fewer Homes Would Go : Riley Urges Scaled-Back Santa Ana Heights Plan

Supervisor Thomas F. Riley has recommended a compromise redevelopment plan for Santa Ana Heights that would convert up to 172 residential properties to office buildings but allow a significant number of residences to remain within the area most affected by jet noise from John Wayne Airport.

Riley’s recommendation, released late Monday, attempts to balance the desires of residents hoping to remain in the unique agricultural community against the demands of those who say that the overflying jets have made life unbearable.

The plan calls for a less-expansive conversion of the area to offices and business parks than land-use plans proposed by the county planning staff, which rec ommended converting 294 homes, and by the Planning Commission, which called for replacing about 180 homes.

The key point of compromise in the plan is that it would allow homeowners along several streets to choose between agricultural, residential or office development for their property--an option many homeowners are already criticizing, saying it will fragment their neighborhoods.

Riley acknowledges that those most interested in retaining the residential-agricultural character of Santa Ana Heights will not like his proposal. Rather, it is more likely to be endorsed by those who want to sell their homes to office developers, he said.

Riley has only one vote on the five-member Board of Supervisors--which is set to decide the future of Santa Ana Heights on Wednesday--but because the community lies within his district other board members have said they expect to defer to his recommendations.

In a letter to other board members, Riley said his plan is designed to allow both residents who wish to remain and residents who want to sell the chance “to pursue their vision of Santa Ana Heights without eliminating an opportunity for one faction to pursue its goals while encouraging the other.”

Specifically, the plan calls for:

- Converting to office development the area most subject to jet noise--along Acacia Avenue and northern Birch Street. A total of 60 to 70 homes would be affected.

- Setting up a mixed-use zone for southern Birch Street and the area west of Cypress Street, allowing landowners to retain their present agricultural zoning or convert to offices. The area includes 102 homes.

2nd Mixed-Use Area

- Establishing another mixed-use area on the east side of Cypress Street, allowing either the existing agricultural zoning or conversion to medium-density residential. The intent there is to replace low-cost housing lost through conversion elsewhere in Santa Ana Heights, Riley’s staff said. The area includes 37 homes.

-Retaining homes along Mesa Drive, including the exclusive estates that front on Upper Newport Bay.

Homeowners within the area most impacted by jet noise--subject to an average level of 65 decibels or more--would be eligible for a purchase assurance program in which the county would buy their homes at fair market value.

The county is also offering free sound insulation for many homeowners who sign a document agreeing to jet flights over their homes, but homes within areas designated for outright conversion would not be eligible.

A maximum of 172 residential properties would be converted to offices if all homeowners within the mixed-use areas opt for redevelopment.

“The composite plan is our effort to put together a solid land-use plan while still trying to recognize the legitimate interests of both parties,” Riley aide Ken Hall said.

‘Difficult Decision’

“It was a most difficult decision,” Hall said. “It probably has to be one of our most frustrating land-use decisions, because in the past we have been able to present plans to the board that have had a consensus of the community behind them. In this one, we’re not going to have that consensus.”

Ciska Stellhorn, president of the Back Bay Community Assn., said of the plan: “It’s awful. I hate it.”

The primary problem is the lack of a firm determination for homes in the mixed-use areas, she said.

“The reason I live there is because I like the environment. I like to ride my horse, take my dogs out. Why on earth would I upgrade my house if I know that within five years there could be an office building next door to me?” Stellhorn said.

The plan that residential advocates had favored--the one recommended by the county Planning Commission--called for conversion of 180 residential properties, but all the conversions would have occurred within one area while the rest of the residential community remained, she said.

Opposed by Some

That plan, however, was opposed by some residents who have been hoping to sell their homes to commercial developers but were targeted to remain under the Planning Commission proposal.

That group, organized as ABCOM (an acronym for the major streets within Santa Ana Heights), indicated Monday that it will accept Riley’s compromise.

“I think our group will back him up in that scenario. It’s given us a choice,” said ABCOM spokeswoman Rita Jones.