IRVINE : Northwood Project Hearings to Continue

The City Council will continue discussions tonight on the Irvine Co.’s proposed 2,855-home Northwood 5 project.

Northwood 5, proposed to be built on 416 acres of orange groves on the city’s northern boundary, already has been the subject of several public hearings at Irvine City Hall. But protests at the last hearing on July 23 prompted the City Council to delay voting on the project.

The Irvine Co. project has been the subject of heated debate among slow- and anti-growth residents as well as officials from the city of Tustin. The Tustin City Council voted last week to sue Irvine unless possible traffic problems generated by Northwood 5 are studied and solved.

The South Coast Air Quality Management District also objected to Irvine’s earlier claim that Northwood 5 would be environmentally “insignificant.” Even though the project wouldn’t violate air quality regulations, the district wanted the city to adopt a statement admitting that the new residents and the proposed retail center indeed would increase air pollution, but that the new homes are needed anyway.

In an attempt to solve Tustin’s concerns, city planners will ask the council during its 6:30 p.m. session tonight to require the Irvine Co. to pay for more traffic studies. Tustin’s city limits are a mile from the proposed planned community.

The study would examine how the future planned community would affect traffic on nearby Tustin streets and intersections. The study would also include recommended road improvements if traffic troubles are anticipated. There is no current requirement for those possible improvements to be made, though.

Three council members campaigned last year on the need to allow more housing in Irvine, and named Northwood 5 as a project they wanted to see built.

The housing project is the second major one to come before the city in a year. In December, the council approved the Irvine Co.’s 3,850-home Westpark II project. But a citizens’ petition campaign halted Westpark II and forced it on the Nov. 5 ballot for voter approval.