FULLERTON : Planners to Ponder Project by Unocal

The Planning Commission tonight will consider a proposal for the development of 380 acres of Unocal property, located within one of the city’s last undeveloped regions just south of Bastanchury Road.

The development, one of the largest single projects the city has considered in the last 20 years, includes an 18-hole public golf course and 883 housing units in an area bounded by Harbor Boulevard, Bastanchury Road, State College Drive, and Skyline and Ladera Vista drives.

Over the next 15 to 20 years, Unocal, the development arm of Union Oil Co. of California, plans to convert the property from oil production to a mix of single family and custom homes, duplexes and multifamily complexes. But the lion’s share of the proposal will be devoted to parks, a 17-acre sports complex and the 187-acre East Coyote Hills Golf Course.

The golf course, which will be the centerpiece of the project, is also intended to make up for the loss of the Imperial Golf Course at the northeast end of Fullerton. Earlier this year, the City Council approved the development of 474 homes on the Imperial course.

The project also sets aside 55 acres of land for the California gnatcatcher, which is a candidate for the federal endangered species list. So far, 17 birds have been caught on the site, forcing Unocal to alter its original plans and establish a habitat-preservation program.

Nearly two-thirds of the project will be devoted to open space, forcing Unocal to build some housing projects at higher densities. The 883 housing units will be constructed on 121 acres.

A controversial part of the housing plans call for constructing 490 multifamily units, such as condominiums and apartments, on 36 acres west of Brea Boulevard.

But city officials say that overall, the density will still be less than a three-unit-per-acre limit the city had set for the site.

The project is within the Coyote Hills, an area on the north end of Fullerton that contains the largest undeveloped areas left in the city. It contains mostly active and tapped-out oil and gas fields.

The Planning Commission meeting will be at 7 p.m. at Fullerton City Hall, 303 W. Commonwealth Ave.