Santa Ana : 61-Unit Complex Rejected for Civic Center Drive

Despite a favorable staff evaluation, the Planning Commission has recommended that the City Council reject a proposed 61-unit apartment complex on Civic Center Drive.

The commission voted 3 to 2 against the controversial proposal by George and Joan Peterson for a 50,000-square-foot site they own between Westwood Avenue and Towner Street.

About 75 residents of the Washington Square neighborhood, which borders Civic Center Drive on the north, attended Monday night’s hearing. Last month, the commission had directed the planning staff and Police Department to study potential impacts the project might have on crime, property values, parking and overcrowding in local schools.

Three Washington Square residents spoke against the project, saying there is every reason to expect crime and traffic problems to increase if the project is built and no reason to expect a favorable impact on neighborhood property values.

But Police Sgt. Bob Ensley told the commissioners that, based on available information, “we can’t say if a particular complex will increase or decrease crime.”

Opponents also argued that the proposal would violate a specific plan adopted by the City Council two years ago calling for office and commercial development along the Civic Center Drive corridor.

In a staff report, however, planners noted a “very limited commercial development potential along the corridor at this time” and a chronic housing shortage. “The worst of all cases would be the continuation of no development on the corridor and its possible deterioration,” the report states.

George Peterson said the complex, to consist of 51 one-bedroom and 10 two-bedroom apartments, would serve as an aesthetically pleasing buffer between Washington Square and the Civic Center. The project also would be directly across the street from a proposed 18,500-seat sports and entertainment arena.