Controversial Outdoor Mall Wins Approval in Santa Ana

Developers won permission Monday to build a controversial outdoor retail mall on one of the city’s well-known “narcotics drive-throughs” despite protests from leaders of a Latino rights group who say the project will take housing from low-income residents.

The City Council voted 7 to 0 for the eight-building mall, which will be named Bristol Village.

It will be built at Brook and Bristol streets, where the city plans to launch a separate $335-million redevelopment project. Last week, attorneys for Hermandad Mexicana Nacional sued the city to halt that project, which could force hundreds of residents out of their homes if the properties are condemned.

Nativo Lopez of Hermandad Mexicana said the retail mall would still be a way for the city to push out low-income residents. Lopez told the council that the city was concentrating on shopping centers instead of low-income housing.

City staff members had recommended that the council accept the Bristol Village proposal as part of an effort to clean up the neighborhood. Drug dealers used to speed through the area to escape police during high-speed chases until the city blocked off the Bristol-Brook intersection with a concrete barrier.

Last year, the City Council unanimously approved the $335-million redevelopment project on Bristol Street to revitalize 783 acres in the congested area. During heated public hearings, dozens of residents and businessmen protested the project, contending that the plan would take away their property without giving them fair market prices.

The city of Santa Ana and its Community Redevelopment Agency--the City Council acts as the agency--were named in the suit.

City officials have said that under state law, Santa Ana must pay the fair market price for the homes taken to make way for redevelopment and must also pay for relocation costs.