Council Rejects Plan for Quarry : Development: Some residents are angry at a newly elected councilman whose vote defeated a proposal to use housing funds to pay for the pit.

In his first major decision as a City Council member, 22-year-old Julian A. Miranda has stepped into a controversy by killing a plan to use nearly $1 million from a low- and moderate-income housing fund to pay for an abandoned rock quarry.

The plan, prepared before Miranda’s election on April 14, called for use of the housing fund to repay the redevelopment agency for the money it spent buying and maintaining the Manning Pit, located south of Arrow Highway and east of Vincent Avenue.

The 38-acre pit, previously used by Los Angeles County as a water spreading ground, has been partially filled with rubble so it can be developed. But there are no immediate plans to build houses in the area, currently zoned for agriculture, and a commercial or industrial development has not been ruled out.

City Treasurer Abraham De Dios advised the council that the use of the housing money would be permitted under state law if the council designated the site for future housing.

However, because two members abstained, Miranda’s lone “no” vote defeated the proposal at the Council’s April 23 meeting. Newly elected Councilwoman Jacquelyn Breceda and Mayor Robert Diaz voted for the plan, but three votes were needed to approve it.

Councilmen Frederick Barbosa and Patricio Miranda, Julian’s uncle, abstained, citing conflict-of-interest regulations. Both own property near the quarry.

Many residents and some fellow council members were miffed at Julian Miranda’s vote.

“I’ve gotten a lot of flak for it,” Miranda said. “The following day the rumor went around that I wasn’t for housing, period. I had a lot of explaining to do.”

Miranda said he was not convinced that designating the Manning site for housing was the only option for the quarry. Also, the money in the housing fund should remain available for other housing projects “instead of throwing it in the Manning Pit,” he said.

“I really don’t believe in taking money from one agency and putting it into another agency,” Miranda added. “What was put before me was very vague.”

Breceda declined to explain why she voted in favor of the plan and Diaz was unavailable for comment.

De Dios, who drew up the proposal, said he still believes “it makes sense financially.” The redevelopment agency purchased the quarry and is continuing to pay for monitoring it on the assumption that money from the housing fund will be used to reimburse the agency, De Dios said.

According to De Dios, the housing fund has $1.2 million, but it will be augmented by about $2.5 million annually over the next several years under a state law requiring that 20% of the revenues from redevelopment projects be spent on low- and moderate- income housing.

The De Dios plan would have allowed the city to shift at least $965,000 from the housing fund to the redevelopment fund, which now has about $4 million. By transferring the money, the city would have been free to spend it for purposes other than housing.

As part of the proposal, the quarry, once filled, would be designated for housing, which residents are clamoring for in the largely industrial and commercial city.

A Sun Valley company was hired to fill the abandoned quarry but was stopped last August by the city because the large pieces of construction debris being used have prompted concerns about settling. Plans to resume the operation have yet to be made final. Filling is expected to take more than seven years.

Although some residents have expressed concern about the safety of homes built on the filled quarry, others are more concerned with starting the project as soon as possible.

Monica Lopez, a 35-year resident of Irwindale, supported the plan and said she and many other residents are angry with Miranda’s vote.

“He doesn’t know what he’s doing,” Lopez said. “We would have more housing and that’s what we need.”