GARDEN GROVE : Housing Project for Seniors Rejected

Expressing concern about its location and possible parking problems, the City Council has rejected a proposed 179-unit, three-story senior citizen housing project on the city’s west side.

The council voted 3-2 Monday night against the senior complex, with Councilmen Raymond T. Littrell, Robert F. Dinsen and J. Tilman Williams in the majority. In favor of the project were Mayor W. E. (Walt) Donovan and Councilman Frank Kessler.

“I just think that it’s too far away from the main center of senior citizens in the city,” said Williams. Several senior housing complexes, including the H. Louis Lake Senior Citizens Center, are in central Garden Grove.

“It’s a worthy project,” Donovan replied. “It has adequate parking. In my mind, the site as it stands now, it doesn’t seem to have a better use.”

Applicant David Michelson, an Irvine architect representing Institutional Property Investors Inc., sought approval of a planned unit development called the Valley View Senior Villas. The development called for the construction of the facility on a 2.8-acre site at 12200 Valley View St., south of Chapman Avenue.

The Planning Commission approved the project at its Aug. 24 meeting, but the City Council took no action on the plan at its Oct. 2 meeting, rescheduling the item to Monday to take further testimony.

Dozens of letters and several petitions have been received by the city supporting and opposing the project. The developers have written to Garden Grove seniors, asking them to lobby the city with letters in support of the project.

A petition organized by area resident Douglas Combs has also been submitted, protesting the three-story height of the proposed development, claiming it would “encroach on our privacy.” Others complained about possible parking problems.

Three years ago, Garden Grove approved a similar three-story senior facility at that location, but the developer abandoned the project because of “economic factors,” according to a staff report. The proposed project, in addition to providing moderate cost housing--a one-bedroom apartment would rent for about $625--would have included food-serving and exercise facilities.