YORBA LINDA : Permit for Housing Complex Is Denied

The City Council has refused to issue a special permit for the construction of a housing complex for senior citizens across the street from the Nixon Library.

Councilman Henry W. Wedaa agreed with several residents that a change in the land’s zoning to allow the complex would “destroy the rurality of the area.”

Allowing anything other than single-family homes on the lot also would open doors for other businesses, Councilman Mark Schwing said.

“It would be a terrible thing to look across from the beautifully landscaped library and see storefronts with ‘Nixonburgers’ and T-shirts,” he said.

The 11 buildings would have housed 52 people on a two-acre lot at Yorba Linda Boulevard and Mountain View Avenue.

“The project contemplated is in conflict with the flavor of my neighborhood,” said resident Roger Dewhurst.

But Jerrold Kessler, developer for the privately funded project, contends that the senior citizens’ complex would provide a buffer between the businesses on one side of the lot and the residences on the other.

Kessler also objected to accusations which described the 700-to-900-square-foot living areas the project would provide as “rabbit hutches.”

“That would indicate that the average rabbit lives very well here in Yorba Linda,” Kessler said.