IRVINE : McGaw Apartments Project Approved

The City Council this week approved 3 to 2 the construction of the McGaw Apartments complex, a project it had rejected earlier this year because of concerns that it would be built too close to industrial businesses.

The council approved the 87-unit complex over the objections of the city Planning Commission, which twice asked the City Council not to approve it. Although the city’s zoning law allows homes to be built on McGaw Avenue west of Jamboree Road, planning commissioners said the location would be too dangerous for residents and could hurt area businesses.

The apartment complex, planned for an area once called the Irvine Industrial Complex, will be surrounded by manufacturers, several of which use toxic chemicals, and one, a carpet mill, which operates 24 hours a day. The area has no sidewalks and no nearby schools.

The risk of a toxic gas leak prompted the city to mandate that the apartment include three rooftop chemical sensors that will sound alarms and shut down the building’s air-circulation system if a hazardous level of gases is detected.

Mike Derderian, owner of Royalty Carpet Mills near the approved apartments, said the project has turned into a comedy.

“The project keeps getting rejected, but it keeps coming back,” Derderian said.

Derderian said he fears that once residents begin moving into the area, they will start complaining about the noise from his carpet mills and outdoor loudspeaker used to page employees over the din.

“We’re going to get complaints. We’re a 24-hour mill,” Derderian said. “The next thing you know, we’ll have the police over there telling us to shut down.”

If he or other businesses want to expand, the residents will be lined up at public hearings to complain, he said. The city, by approving the project, is sending a message that businesses are no longer allowed there, Derderian said.

Councilman William A. (Art) Bloomer, who asked that the council reconsider the McGaw apartment project, said the city should approve it. The land is zoned to allow apartments, and the city approved the nearby Charter Apartments several years ago, Bloomer said. The council would be treating the McGaw developer differently by turning the project down, he said.

Councilman Bill Vardoulis, who also favored the project, discounted the safety risk of the chemicals used by area manufacturers.

“There are people working there every day, including me,” said Vardoulis, whose office is on nearby Alton Parkway. “If (the risk) is that serious, aren’t we all in jeopardy?”

The two were joined by Councilman Barry J. Hammond in approving the project.

Mayor Sally Anne Sheridan and Councilwoman Paula Werner, in one of their few cooperative votes, opposed the apartment complex as incompatible in the industrial area.