Walnut Rejects Plan for Gate at Housing Development
The City Council, saying gated communities are elitist and have no place in this largely rural area, on Wednesday rejected developers’ plans to erect a gate at the entrance to an exclusive group of $1-million-plus homes.
After a brief discussion, the council voted 3 to 1 to approve the 16-home project without a gated entrance. The Lemon Hill development, to be built on landscaped rolling hills near a riding trail, would have been Walnut’s first gated community.
“A gate is a gate, and that isn’t really the philosophy of this community,” said Councilman Tom Sykes, who along with Councilmen Drexel Smith and Dr. William Choctaw voted to modify the project. Mayor Bertha (Bert) Ashley voted against the project, and Councilman Ray Watson was absent.
Smith said that although exclusive communities tend to raise local property values, “we’ve never been in favor of gated communities, and we can’t compromise that kind of attitude for 16 homes. That would open us up to never closing the door on guarded gates.”
Some residents, however, spoke in favor of the gate, which would have been opened by electronic cards distributed to homeowners. They said a gated community would deter crime and trespassers from the surrounding area, and would reduce vehicle speeds because cars would have to stop before entering. Those points were echoed in a letter to the city manager from Capt. Thomas Vetter of the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department substation in Walnut.
John Sullivan, who lives on North Jamon Lane, across from the project site, said: “I’ve heard comments about elitism, but let’s keep an open mind. I’ve had the displeasure of having my home burglarized. A gated community would help reduce that problem for me.”
The houses, which will range in cost from $1 million to $1.7 million, will be spread across the slopes to the west of Lemon Avenue, near La Puente Road.
The average price of homes locally is about $256,000, according to Bob Long, real estate agent at Realty World All Star in Walnut. A spokeswoman for Prudential California Realty in Diamond Bar put the figure closer to $350,000.
The gate wasn’t the only question at issue at the council meeting.
Ashley vehemently objected to the massive soil removal involved in preparing the land for building. Construction, slated to begin in March, 1990, will require the removal of 240,000 cubic yards of soil to grade the land.
“There’s entirely too much grading and too many lots,” she said. “The people will be mad if they see 24,000 trucks go by their homes. Somebody has forgotten there’s such a thing as air quality management.”
The developer, Roy McKeen, agreed Wednesday night to pay the city $3 per trip for each outgoing truck.
The council also turned down a bid to increase lot sizes to 20,000 square feet, which would have allowed homeowners to keep horses on their property.
The city planning director and city engineer speculated that the development’s upscale residents would want to put in tennis courts, gazebos and pools, leaving little room for corrals and stables, even on the large lots. So, the council decided to approve the original average lot size of 16,300 square feet.
The project will be next to an existing equestrian trail on Lemon Avenue, and may include a one-acre equestrian center, where riders can water and tie their horses.
