IRVINE : College’s Home Plan to Go Before Council

The controversial request by Christ College Irvine to build 154 single-family homes on its sprawling hilltop campus will go before the City Council tonight.

So far, during four heated public hearings before the Planning Commission, residents of the nearby Turtle Rock community have complained that the new homes would make morning traffic problems worse.

The college would need a variance in order to build the homes because the land is currently zoned for educational uses only.

Christ College Irvine, a private Lutheran liberal arts college, is asking for approval of the residential project in order to raise money to pay off its original $25-million construction loan.

Selling the land to a developer would raise perhaps $30 million for the campus, college President Ray Halm said recently.

Without a major infusion of cash, the college would have to consider closing and moving to a less expensive location, he said.

The plan, which will be discussed tonight during the council’s 6:30 session, calls for 69 houses to be built on the west side of the college campus and an additional 85 to the east.

The college would sell about 47 acres for development, or about 40% of its property.

The college had originally asked the city to rezone the land to allow up to 349 homes on the property.

That proposal called for a combination of houses and condominiums.

However, protests from neighboring residents prompted college officials to reduce the total number of homes and move them farther away from existing Turtle Rock residences.

The Planning Commission endorsed the college’s proposal last month in a 3-2 vote.

The two dissenting members said the college should scale back its building plans even more and urged the city to require the college to provide affordable housing in compliance with city development goals.