Fullerton : Residents Defeat Plan to Permit Day Nursery

Residents near two houses at 1400 W. Orangethorpe Ave. again were successful this week in defeating a plan to convert the property to a non-residential use.

On a 3-2 vote, the City Council Tuesday night rejected plans to convert the houses into a day nursery that would accommodate 36 children--overturning approval earlier granted by the Planning Commission.

One of the houses is mentioned as a “historically significant home” in the Fullerton Building Survey, a list that includes properties in the National Register of Historic Places and local landmarks.

The house once was slated to become a religious temple, but after strong neighborhood protest, the city decided against it.

City staff had recommended that the council approve the nursery proposal, which, according to the staff report, was “one of the few non-residential uses that would be conducive to maintaining a semblance of the original setting of the historic property.”

Concerns about traffic and the residential character of the neighborhood prompted the council to deny the request, city Associate Planner Ted J. Commerdinger said Wednesday.

About 200 residents signed a petition opposing the nursery, saying that, among other things, it would generate traffic problems during the day and security problems at night when the building was not occupied.