ORANGE : City OKs Plans for Home Development

The City Council this week gave final approval to plans for a 1,800-home development on 700 acres in East Orange, with no protest from residents who had vehemently opposed the project.

The City Council voted 3 to 0 to adopt a series of resolutions approving the Serrano Heights development that will border Anaheim Hills.

Mayor Don E. Smith abstained, citing a possible conflict of interest because of property that he owns. Councilman William Steiner was absent.

Previous meetings concerning Serrano Heights, a Woodcrest Development Inc. project, drew hundreds of angry East Orange and Anaheim Hills residents who said the plan would endanger wildlife, bring down property values and destroy the last pristine ridgeline in the area.

But this week the resolution passed without public comment because opponents of the project said they were unfamiliar with the city procedures and didn’t realize the council would give final approval this week.

“We didn’t know that there was the resolution process,” said Joe Pelka, a representative of the Mabury Ranch Homeowners Assn. “Had we known that we would have been there to voice our continuing opposition.”

The project, which guarantees 476 acres of open space, will rezone the area from agricultural to a planned community district.

Though the decision to build up to 1,800 apartments, townhouses and single family homes is considered final, Pelka said residents will continue to fight it.