LA HABRA : Planners Modify Zoning on 60 Acres

In what has been described as the first major update in 15 years, city officials have modified the zoning on about 60 areas in the city.

City Manager Lee Risner, in a planning session last month, said the modification was needed to reflect the status quo of land-use throughout the city. Most of the changes were approved without comment and forwarded to the City Council for final review during a Planning Commission hearing Monday.

But four speakers took issue with the zoning changes on three pieces of property. One of those would change zoning from residential to commercial for property owned by BGR Investments in the 1400 block of Lambert Road.

Tom Styskal, representing BGR Investments, complained that the investment firm received inadequate notice. Despite assurances from city administrators that residential use would still be permitted on the property as “legal and non-conforming,” Styskal complained that the change would caused a “substantial diminution in value” of the land.

The objections failed to sway the commission, which voted to approve the zoning change. It noted that Styskal and BGR Investments could address their concerns to the City Council on July 31, when the matter comes up.

Also contested was the imposition of a Planned Unit Development on vacant land next to the Hacienda Coffee Shop in west La Habra. The designation would require input from the neighborhood before any development.

Gene Beckman, representing the owner of Hacienda Coffee Shop, argued that the proposed designation was a “burden” and unfair. “The coffee shop was there long before the residential tract,” he said.

The complaints caused a Planning Commission split, and the panel forwarded the proposal to the City Council without comment.

Some protesters prevailed. Representatives of Southern Pacific Railroad managed to persuade the Planning Commission to remove a proposal designating portions of the railroad right of way as a buffer between residences and the tracks. A spokesman said the city had no jurisdiction over the property, which falls under the Interstate Commerce Commission and the state Public Utilities Commission.