FULLERTON : City Approves Plan for Hillside Homes

The City Council this week approved plans for 110 houses and 110 condominiums to be built in a gated community in the East Coyote Hills.

After more than three hours of public testimony in a standing-room-only council chamber, the council voted 4 to 1 to allow the homes to be built on a steep slope at the northeast corner of Bastanchury Road and State College Boulevard. Last month, the Planning Commission denied the project, saying it included too little open space and cut too deeply into the hill.

The project, to be built by the J.M. Peters Co. of Newport Beach, is the first to be approved in the steeper slopes of the East Coyote Hills. Building outlines drafted in the 1970s call for projects to follow the slope of the hills rather than grading the land flat.

About 125 area residents attended the hearing. Several complained that the project would violate these outlines because up to 50 feet of hill would be removed to accommodate the condominiums.

Councilwoman Molly McClanahan, who was the sole council member opposed to the project, agreed that more of the hill should be preserved.

The 47-acre site slopes downward from the intersection toward Craig Regional Park and Fullerton Dam on the east. Plans for the area originally called for a commercial center on the corner, with condominiums behind it.

A majority of the council said even though cutting into the hill violates the intent of the city’s plan for the area, the project will preserve views of the area.