IRVINE : Condo Project OKd for Industrial Area

The City Council voted narrowly early Wednesday to allow a 138-unit condominium project in a city industrial sector, despite a Planning Commission recommendation that it deny the developer’s request.

The council voted 3 to 2 to allow Newport Pacific Development Corp. to build the condominiums. However, as a condition of their approval, council members are requiring the corporation to implement unique safety features to alert residents of any accidental toxic chemical emissions from nearby businesses.

Mayor Sally Anne Sheridan and Councilwoman Paula Werner voted against the condominium project. They said the industrial businesses near the property at Kelvin and Derian avenues are inappropriate and dangerous neighbors for residents. While the property next door to the condominium site is a 403-unit apartment building, the city should never have approved that project either, Sheridan said.

The land is owned by the federal Resolution Trust Corp., which took possession after the landowner went bankrupt.

Newport Pacific Development President Al Marshall argued in favor of the condominium project because the location had already been approved for 138 apartments.

Before the vote, Marshall told council members that if they did not approve the condominium proposal, his company would go ahead and build apartments, he said.

“The choice is residential or residential,” Marshall said.

The public hearing for the condominium project began late Tuesday and stretched into Wednesday morning because of a bulging council agenda.

Mike Derderian, owner of Royalty Carpet Mills on Derian Avenue, asked the council to side with the Planning Commission and deny the condominium project. He said that no residences should be built in the industrial park because future residents would complain about hazardous chemicals being used at the neighboring businesses.

In the end however, the council decided that given a choice between condominiums and apartments, it should allow the condominiums to help provide more affordable housing in the city.