ORANGE : Owners, Renters Debate Street Closure

Homeowners clashed with apartment tenants and a business representative in an emotional debate about the partial closure of Adams Avenue during a public hearing this week.

The City Council on Tuesday faced a nearly full house of angry residents.

Homeowners, many of whom moved to Adams years ago when it was a quiet neighborhood, argued that the traffic is now dangerous. Apartment dwellers say they need the street open. Business owners said they would lose customers if the street were closed.

That idyllic neighborhood deteriorated over the years as motorists began using the street to avoid the heavy traffic on Tustin and Katella avenues, homeowners told the council.

The public works department installed a barrier to cut off eastbound traffic on a trial basis six-months ago and the council must decide whether to continue the trial closure.

Homeowners would like the entire street closed. But apartment owners joined nearby business owners, who argued that closing the street would discourage customers.

City Council members, who decided to postpone a decision for up to 90 days, noted that the argument typically reflects the changes of a once-small town facing the dilemmas of growth and development.

Acting Public Works Director Bernie W. Dennis recommended that the barrier be removed and the street reopened. City officials have been barraged with complaints, he said.

Neighbors on surrounding streets are unhappy and many drivers ignore the barrier and drive down the street the wrong way, he said.

Those reasons failed to convince Adams homeowners. “There are times when cars go racing down the street and you can hear them in your home and you shudder and hope there is not a small child out there,” Christine Baker said.

“It’s our neighborhood too,” said apartment resident Linda Townsend. “The barrier is not only an eyesore. It is 90% ineffective. We’ve had many near collisions.”

Councilwoman Joanne Coontz asked the city manager to look at the issue from a wider perspective, which would include businesses.