LA HABRA : Planners Oppose Rezoning for Poor

Plans for up to 32 homes for indigent families received a setback this week when the city Planning Commission voted against a zoning change.

The site is 1 1/2 acres at the south end of property owned by Our Lady of Guadalupe Roman Catholic Church on La Habra Boulevard.

The proposal was to rezone it from R1, allowing up to eight units per acre, to R2, allowing up to 14 units.

About 200 people packed the City Council chambers to hear zoning arguments.

City Planning Director Kathy Kim said 67 postcards had been received favoring the project. Real estate agent Lynne Rolnik presented a petition that she said contained 300 signatures opposing the project.

Commission Chairman Paul Thornburg ruled that neither the postcards nor the petition was appropriate because the commission was considering only zoning changes and not possible developments.

Lisa Baker, who lives near the site, told the commission that in her work as a law enforcement officer she has contact with homeless people. “I know what kind of area this could become,” she said. “If you change the zoning, you’re going to have a lot of different kinds of people coming into that neighborhood.”

Thornburg responded that the zoning could result in low-income housing or “high-priced condos.”

Rolnik said her major concern is home values. She told the commission that a sale she had hoped to finalize fell through because of the proposed zoning change. “Neighbors are concerned about property that they’ve owned for years,” she said.

The next step will be a discussion of the proposal by the City Council.