Santa Ana : New Historic District, City’s 2nd, Designated

Heninger Park, a neighborhood bounded by 1st and Flower streets, McFadden Avenue and a property line 158 feet west of Main Street, has been designated as the city’s second historic district.

The City Council voted unanimously for the designation Monday night with Vice Mayor P. Lee Johnson, an attorney, abstaining because he has a client who owns property in the area. The area will officially become a historic district 30 days after a second vote scheduled for April 7. French Park, northeast of the Civic Center, is the city’s other historic district.

Homes and other buildings in Heninger Park, some 100 years old, will be given some protection from what residents described to the council as a recent wave of apartment construction.

Susan Tully, who helped organize the Heninger Park Neighborhood Assn., said she felt compelled to call for action after two old Victorian-style homes in her area were demolished to make way for high-density apartments. She said five other pre-1940 homes were destroyed while the district concept was being studied.

“We feel terrific about it,” she said of the council’s action. She said that property values are expected to increase and that families will be encouraged to move into the area.

The historic designation puts strict standards on apartment projects, said Phil Freeland, executive director of community development and housing, including minimum lot sizes and setbacks and lowered density zones and height restrictions.

The restrictions vary according to various subzones in the area. For example, in Project Area Four, bounded by Camille Street, McFadden Avenue, Sycamore Street and Broadway, development is limited to single-family and duplex houses with minimum lot sizes of 6,200 square feet, height limits of 35 feet and front yard setbacks of no less than 20 feet.