Brea : City Lifts Freeze on Residential Projects

Planned residential developments downtown will be able to move ahead now that the City Council has lifted a five-month moratorium that froze the projects.

The projects had been barred pending completion of studies of the area. Although the studies are not yet done, the city has established interim development standards, regulating such items as landscape and designs, Councilwoman Norma Hicks said.

Hicks and other council members voted Tuesday to lift the moratorium.

When the city last December extended what originally was meant to be a 45-day development freeze, some builders objected, saying that the extension would hurt them financially.

The city expects to have final zoning studies in another month of what the downtown area could look like, Development Services Director William R. Kelly said.