Citizens’ Suit Targets Proposed 40-Acre Yorba Linda Auto Mall

Plans by Yorba Linda to build a 40-acre auto mall that officials say will generate $2 million a year in taxes have been thrown into limbo by a lawsuit seeking to block the project.

“We’re not going to proceed until this lawsuit is resolved,” Yorba Linda City Manager Art Simonian said Thursday.

The complaint filed Wednesday in Orange County Superior Court seeks to overturn the Yorba Linda City Council’s July 7 approval of an auto mall housing 10 car dealerships on La Palma Avenue, east of Weir Canyon Road.

The complaint was filed on behalf of Aware Concerned Citizens Organized for Responsible Development, a group of homeowners living near the site. They say the proposed mall would decrease property values because it would bring bright lights, traffic and toxic waste to an area bordered by single-family homes and condominiums.

Alternatives Raised

Patrick M. Ryan, the attorney who filed the complaint, said the environmental impact report prepared by the city is inadequate.

Ryan said the city should have considered alternatives to the project, such as building a smaller auto mall or using the site for other commercial uses that would be more compatible with the neighborhood.

The complaint also alleges that the City Council, in effect, approved the auto mall before the legally required impact report was completed.

Yorba Linda Mayor Irvin Fried, one of the four City Council members who support plans for the auto mall, declined direct comment on the case. However, he said:

“Without regard to the environmental impact report, if the city does not secure for itself additional tax revenues, it will not be able to fix streets, pay for the additional police that will be needed as the city grows, maintain the park system and provide the level of service that the people of Yorba Linda have come to expect and demand.”

A hearing will be held within 90 days, Ryan said. In the meantime, city manager Simonian said, the city’s talks on buying the privately owned 40-acre site and completing leases with auto dealers are being put on hold. “Nobody we’re dealing with wants to get involved in legal entanglements,” Simonian said.

Referendum Move

The homeowners’ group is also trying to qualify a referendum for the ballot that would block construction of the auto mall. For the measure to qualify, the organization must gather 2,120 signatures, or 10% of Yorba Linda’s 21,200 registered voters, by Aug. 7, City Clerk Carolyn Wallace said.

Because the petition could not be filed in time to qualify for the November election, Wallace said, a special election costing about $20,000 would have to be held.