IRVINE : Panel Rejects Plan for Low-Cost Rooms

The Planning Commission on Friday rejected a proposal to build a single-room-occupancy hotel in an industrial area of the city, setting the stage for a showdown over the issue at the City Council.

The commission debated the plan until nearly 2 a.m. on Friday, in the end siding with opponents who argued that the hotel’s proposed location near a rock-crushing plant and waste disposal operation was inappropriate.

“I think this is a good facility. The design is excellent,” said Marc Goldstone, a planning commissioner. “It was just a bad location.”

The Irvine Co., Shawntana Development Corp. and HomeAid Orange County, which jointly proposed the project, are likely to appeal the decision to the City Council for a final vote.

Their plans call for the construction of a three-story, $12-million hotel off Jamboree Road.

The hotel would contain 265 rooms--each complete with a bathroom and kitchenette.

The facility, called an SRO for short, would be designed for people who work in Irvine but cannot afford the city’s pricey rents.

A furnished room at the hotel would cost about $370 a month.

City officials have expressed support for the concept, but doubts about its proposed home have persisted.

Some council members have said the site on Construction Circle is isolated from shopping and other residential areas and lacks adequate public transportation.

Goldstone said the site might be too noisy for residents.

“With this kind of heavy industry, I think it is objectionable to put a residential development here,” Goldstone said.

Some businesses on Construction Circle also oppose the facility, fearing that once residents move into the hotel, they will demand that noise be reduced and off-hours operations be curtailed.

Earlier this year, the City Council decided not to study the possibility of locating the residential facility on vacant city land near the Civic Center.