ANAHEIM : Condo Development Up for Vote Tonight

Yet another section of Anaheim Hills may soon be carved up for housing development if the City Council tonight approves a 152-unit condominium project proposed for the area.

Residents of the Anaheim Hills Citizens Coalition have strongly lobbied against the project, and the council was left in a stalemate after the final public hearing last month.

Homeowners have argued that the project would create too much traffic and crowd too many units on the 10.5-acre parcel. They cite the developer’s request to change the city’s general plan to allow up to 16 units per acre rather than six.

“This change is not an enhancement,” said Patrick Pepper, chairman of the residents’ coalition. “I question what exactly we’re building for ourselves here.”

The project is slated for an odd-shaped parcel just north of the intersection of the Costa Mesa and Riverside freeways and just east of Riverdale Avenue.

The developer has argued that the change would not make the area too dense, and that affordable housing is needed in the hills community, where homes are often beyond reach of the average income-earner.

“There is a tremendous need for affordable housing,” said Camille Courtney, who is developing the property.

The council deadlocked 2 to 2 on the project at its last council meeting, with Mayor Fred Hunter and Councilman William D. Ehrle opposed, and Council Members Tom Daly and Miriam Kaywood in favor. Councilman Irv Pickler was absent at that meeting.