Anaheim Tract Wins Housing Height Variance

The Anaheim City Council on Tuesday voted to approve a blanket height variance for most of the homes in an exclusive tract in Anaheim Hills, marking another round in the battle of developers with neighbors who allege that the project will obstruct views in the scenic area.

The 4-1 vote--with Councilman Irv Pickler dissenting--overturned a unanimous Anaheim Planning Commission decision to reject the blanket height variance for 38 homes planned in the Peralta Hills development, just north of Nohl Ranch Road and Meats Avenue.

Developers want to build multimillion-dollar homes in the tract that exceed the scenic corridor’s 25-foot height limit by 10 feet. They sought a blanket variance to avoid bringing the homes one by one before the Planning Commission and the council.

Neighbors, however, have argued that allowing a 35-foot limit will disrupt the sweeping views they have of the surrounding canyon.

The council, trying steer a neutral course in the dispute, had urged developer Vic Peloquin to conduct a visual study--using balloons--to determine how high a structure could be built without blocking views of nearby homes.

The balloon study found that, except for some homes on the eastern edge of the development, no “substantial impact of existing vistas would occur,” the council noted before Tuesday’s vote.

So, the council voted to restrict five lots on the eastern edge of the tract to an 18-foot limit, while granting a 35-foot variance for the rest of the tract.

Neighbors have also argued that developers should have to make concessions for the right to build a 3,200-foot-long, solid-brick wall along Nohl Ranch Road that developers say is needed to protect privacy in the new tract.