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ORANGE : Irvine Co. Proposal Faces Petition Drive

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Residents concerned about the potential impact on traffic from the Irvine Co.’s proposed 12,000-home development in east Orange have launched a drive to put the issue on the June ballot.

“We want to put this issue to the voters of Orange and let them decide on the proposed development,” said Bill Lewis, a member of Concerned Active and Involved Residents, which is acting as an umbrella for four community groups.

A kickoff drive to distribute petitions will be held on Saturday at noon in Hart Park, Lewis said. Organizers have until Jan. 18 to gather 5,500 signatures, about 10% of the city’s 54,098 registered voters needed to qualify the referendum, a spokeswoman from the city clerk’s office said.

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Organizers said residents are angry about an endorsement by the Orange City Council at its regular meeting two weeks ago that amended the city’s General Plan to include 7,110 acres on which the Irvine Co. plans to build 12,300 homes, a hotel and major recreational facilities over 20 years.

“A lot of people in our group live in the west side of Orange, and there’s nothing the city has said that will handle the added transportation load for the proposed east Orange development,” Lewis said.

“Yet, the Irvine Co. wants to add 34,000 more people, which could mean an additional 370,000 daily car trips around the Irvine Lake area,” he added.

Larry Thomas, an Irvine Co. spokesman, disagreed with the potential impact on traffic.

“We will both be upgrading Chapman (Avenue) and parallel roads, which will substantially improve regional traffic for the Orange area,” Thomas said.

Led by Mayor Don E. Smith, members of the City Council have praised the plan, which incorporates compromises between the Irvine Co. and environmentalists and homeowner associations reached over a four-year period.

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