FULLERTON : Judge Clears Way for Street Widening

An Orange County Superior Court judge paved the way for the widening of a portion of Bastanchury Road on Thursday after he invalidated a November initiative to block the project.

Citing a case involving a similar initiative in Irvine, Superior Court Judge Floyd Schenk supported the city’s argument that because Bastanchury Road is a regional street that crosses the boundaries of several cities, it cannot be the subject of an initiative within one jurisdiction.

City officials said that if upheld by the court, the Save Our Bastanchury (SOB) initiative would have forced Fullerton to build sound walls and other barriers to reduce noise from Bastanchury, as well as other streets where improvements are planned over the next few years. The city plans to widen Bastanchury Road from four to six lanes from Harbor Boulevard to Euclid Street.

In August, 1990, the citizen’s group collected enough valid signatures to place the issue on the ballot, arguing that the $3.8 million in widening and improvement projects on Bastanchury Road would increase traffic noise to unacceptable levels.

The proposed measure would have prevented the city from widening or improving any street if current or predicted traffic noise exceeded levels set in the city’s General Plan. The initiative also would have affected road projects elsewhere in the city, including repaving Euclid from Malvern Avenue north to the city line.

Schenk also cited a state Court of Appeal decision that struck down a San Clemente slow-growth initiative because it was left solely for a City Council to interpret.

“I have felt all along that what the SOBs wanted to do was not legal, and that it would have been ruinous for the city if they had prevailed in court,” City Atty. R.K. Fox said in a statement.

City officials feared that if the initiative was upheld, it would have halted projects on all existing streets and arterial highways in Fullerton. They argued that it would have required extensive noise studies on all projects and construction of 56 miles of sound walls at a cost of $100 million.

Mary B. Homme, leader of the citizens’ group, said they plan to meet with their attorney next week to discuss whether to file an appeal. But she said the matter has attracted support citywide. The group had collected 11,000 signatures, and 4,324 were declared valid.