2,147-Home Plan Delayed Over Firefighter Access

The Anaheim City Council came within inches of deciding on a proposed 2,147-home community in Anaheim Hills on Tuesday before debate about firefighters’ access to the construction site delayed the vote for at least another week.

The 816-acre Highlands at Anaheim Hills, planned for an area just past Canyon Rim Road and East Serrano Avenue, would be one of the largest new developments in Anaheim this decade, costing about $200 million and increasing the city’s population by nearly 6,000, or 2.5%, developers and city officials said.

After almost two years of talks, the city and the developers, Southmark Pacific Corp., had ironed out nearly all their differences, including cost to the city, maintenance, parks and water services, said Joel Fick, city planning director. The last major disagreement centered on a completion date for an agreed-upon extension of East Serrano Avenue to the proposed Weir Canyon Road extension, and on firefighters’ means of access to the construction site.

The developer, represented by Elfend and Associates, wants to spend the estimated $4 million needed to build the road only after the development is completed in seven to 12 years, said Frank Elfend, project representative.

The construction site at first would have its own water for firefighting, under Elfend’s proposal. After the first 400 buildings would be completed, a temporary paved road would be built, linking Highlands to one fire station to the north and another to the south.

City planning administrators and the Fire Department said that’s not good enough. “The moment they drop combustible materials on that site, we want access,” Anaheim Fire Chief Jeff Bowman said.

“Santa Ana winds sweep through that canyon at 60 m.p.h., and even with roads in place, we’ll have to get there quickly to stop a brush fire from spreading to neighboring developments.”

Bowman added that the site would be at its most vulnerable during construction.

The city had compromised by accepting the temporary road while the first 400 buildings were going up. After that, planners want the Serrano extension in place. The Fire Department would be content with the temporary road until the project is complete, Bowman said.

The issue was approaching a vote when developers from the proposed Oak Hills Ranch, just west of the Highlands, suggested that three proposed developments--Oak Hills, Highlands and Wallace Ranch--provide money for the Serrano extension now and that temporary roads be forgotten.

The council decided to think it over for a week.

“It may take a little more time, but it will be done correctly,” Mayor Bill Bay said. “We don’t want to take one little step in the wrong direction now and fall flat on our faces.”

The only comment from residents came in a letter from the executive committee of the Anaheim Hills Citizens Coalition, which urged the council to delay a vote until neighboring homeowners could examine the proposal more closely.