Corona OKs Plan to Build 3,742 Homes

CORONA — The City Council approved a plan Wednesday to build 3,742 homes in the hills along the city’s northeastern border with Norco.

Two council votes--on a specific plan and on a tentative tract map for the Woodlake Villages project--brought major landowners Richard Owen and Robert Grant significantly closer to developing the land that was transferred to Corona’s control from neighboring Norco a month and a half ago.

The plan, approved by a 4-1 vote, replaces the zoning for the 712-acre Woodlake Villages development and provides a guide for land use and development standards in the area, said William Ketteman, Corona planning director.

The plan divides the project into 49 “planning areas,” each designated for a specific use such as single-family residential development, commercial centers or parkland.

The Woodlake Villages plan includes 11.4 acres set aside for two shopping areas, 16.4 acres for parks, and 46.2 acres for roads, in addition to the 628 acres that are designated for residential developments ranging from five-acre estates to high-density multiple-unit apartment complexes.

Once they meet certain conditions imposed Wednesday night, the landowners can return to the city with additional tract maps that will plot the final division of the area into lots, allowing construction to begin, Ketteman said.