IRVINE : Council to Rehear Thrice-Denied Plan

A developer’s plan to build an 87-unit apartment complex in an industrial area of the city is scheduled for another public hearing next month after three earlier denials and a pending lawsuit.

Councilman William A. (Art) Bloomer asked the council to reconsider plans for the McGaw Apartments to clarify confusion over the council’s vote last May.

Although the city claims to have denied the apartment plans on a 2-2 vote, the developer claims in a lawsuit filed last month in Orange County Superior Court that the council actually approved them.

The confusion arises over the actions taken by Councilman Bill Vardoulis immediately before the council held a public hearing on the McGaw Apartments project on May 12.

City Atty. Joel D. Kuperberg had announced before the hearing began that Vardoulis would not participate in the matter because he has a potential conflict of interest as a part-owner of an engineering firm near the proposed apartments. Vardoulis then left the meeting.

When the council voted on a motion by Bloomer to approve the apartments, the action apparently failed on a 2-2 vote, with Vardoulis listed as absent.

In the lawsuit, Grimmway Development claims that Vardoulis’ business would not be affected by the proposed apartment building. Under city rules, if a council member abstains from a vote without permission from the city attorney or from the council, the abstention shall be recorded as a yes. Therefore, the lawsuit alleges, McGaw Apartments actually was approved.

Kuperberg could not be reached for comment. But minutes of the May 12 council meeting show that Kuperberg twice announced Vardoulis’ potential conflict of interest and that he would not participate in the discussion.

Grimmway Development’s lawsuit asks that if the court does not force the city to treat the May vote as an approval, it should force the city to reconsider the project with all council members voting.

After the May hearing, Grimmway and city officials sought an opinion from the state Fair Political Practices Commission on whether Vardoulis had a conflict of interest over the McGaw Apartments project, according to city officials. The commission responded by letter that the councilman had no conflict and could vote on the matter.

With Vardoulis able to vote, the City Council shouldn’t wait for a decision in the lawsuit to reconsider the project but should act on its own to resolve the matter of the disputed vote, Bloomer said Monday. He said he sought the rehearing at the request of Grimmway Development, but before he knew about the lawsuit.

William Rice, president of Grimmway Development, declined comment on the lawsuit.