Hearing on Auto Sales Center Put Off

About 350 Yorba Linda residents, ready to do battle against an automobile dealership center proposed nearby, jammed the City Council chambers Monday night, but council members referred the issue back to their Planning Commission before the battle began.

City Atty. Leonard Hampel told the council that notice of the Planning Commission hearing in April had not been sent to nearby residents by the legal deadline. The council sent the proposal to the commission for a new hearing and ordered it returned to the council by June 2.

The 40-acre auto center is proposed for La Palma Avenue just east of Weir Canyon Road in an area now zoned for light manufacturing, warehouse and commercial services, such as auto repair shops and service stations. The council was scheduled to decide whether to change the area’s zoning from industrial to specific commercial uses that would allow the auto center to be built there.

City planners say that up to 12 dealerships could be located in the auto center. If they are, the city would receive up to $3 million in sales tax revenue from their operations, city officials estimate.

But homeowners who live in the Hidden Hills and Village condominium developments have complained that a flashy auto center would disturb their quiet, semi-rural lives. During previous public hearings, members of ACCORD (Aware Concerned Citizens Organized for Reasonable Development) claimed that neon lights, loudspeakers, pollution and increased traffic of an auto center would degrade their neighborhoods and views.

City officials insist that revenue from an auto center is needed in a city that is mostly residential, still growing but lacking a firm commercial tax base. The current revenue from building permits will dwindle as the city runs out of land to develop, officials say.

“We’ve been accused of abandoning the semi-rural atmosphere, but it costs money to maintain that atmosphere,” Mayor Irwin Fried said.

Patrick Ryan, a spokesman for ACCORD, accused city officials of being in “a hurry to get this through, but we don’t see the city in financial straits.” He asked for a new environmental impact report on the project that would include neighbors’ objections. He also asked council members to hold a citywide vote on the issue, but the council refused to discuss that proposal, saying it was not on the council’s agenda.