Plan for Auto Mall on 40-Acre Site Has Yorba Linda Residents Mounting Protest

A 40-acre parcel of land surrounded by hills and homes is expected to be the subject of a battle Monday by Yorba Linda homeowners angry about plans to put an auto mall there.

The privately owned land, on La Palma Avenue east of Weir Canyon Road, is now zoned for light manufacturing, warehouse and commercial services such as auto repair shops and gas stations. An amendment that will come before the City Council Monday night would allow six to 10 auto dealerships on the site.

The Yorba Linda Planning Commission recommended in April that the City Council approve the amendment. City planners say an auto park could bring as much as $2 million in sales tax revenue to the city.

But some who live near the land say the auto mall would destroy the area’s ambiance. The mall would bring bright lights, traffic and toxic waste to the area, said Ron Taylor, who lives west of the site. Taylor is chairman of ACCORD--Aware Concerned Citizens Organized for Reasonable Development, a group of homeowners who say they plan to protest the amendment at the Monday council meeting.

Cydney Gaskill , who moved into a nearby townhouse with her husband Bill more than a year ago, said: “We were told that the zoning in the area was for research and development and there was nothing going on with auto parks. There’s already an auto dealership about two miles around from where we live. The lights are on at midnight and makes the area look like it’s noon. That’s only one dealership. Can you imagine 10 of them?”

The auto mall is the most controversial issue Yorba Linda has seen,said Mayor Irvin Fried, a City Council member for more than 10 years.

“There’s an emotional intensity with which the auto park is viewed,” Fried said. “People who live in close proximity have fears about their property value and their life styles.”

Real estate agent Rob Lammers, 37, who bought his home near the site about two years ago, is one such resident. He said that if the mall is built, “I expect the property value to decrease. I feel like it’s total devastation.”

Fried said that the five council members understand residents’ frustrations but also are concerned that the city balance its budget--$7 million this year.

“A portion of our city budget is made up of building permit revenue. That revenue will disappear after we run out of land,” Fried said. “We face the necessity to see that the revenue is replaced at some point. We have about 42,000 citizens right now. In five years, we expect a city of 60,000 people.”

Some residents said they just learned of the auto mall plans and that had they known of them sooner, they would have protested them in April.

Phil Paxton, Yorba Linda community development director, said planning for the auto mall began two years ago and that city planners commissioned an environmental impact report last fall.

“We have letters on file,” Paxton said. “The city feels as if legal notice was given. There has been no secrecy. We have given notice in local papers.”