ORANGE : Developer to Again Pitch Senior Housing

A developer will make a last-ditch appeal to the City Council tonight to approve a plan for a senior citizens’ development on the city’s east side.

The plan for a 93-unit development was turned down by the Planning Commission in September, because the steeply sloped property, which is over a fault line, could lead to problems for neighboring subdivisions, according to Planning Commission minutes.

The commissioners had asked the developer, the Greubel Co. of Tustin, to submit a plan with fewer apartments, shorter buildings and more parking spaces. A permit for the $5-million project was denied when those plans did not appear.

Jerome Greubel, the owner of the development company, blamed a scheduling snafu for the outcome of the last hearing.

Because of crossed signals on a hearing postponement, he did not have an engineer or architect on hand to explain his view at the Planning Commission hearing.

“It was like trying to represent yourself in court when you don’t have a legal background,” he said.

Tonight, all of his backup staff will be at the hearing to explain his plans for a development of three three-story buildings on three acres of land. The complex would be at Newport Boulevard and Chapman Avenue.

“In terms of senior housing, we are as un-dense as you can be,” he said. “We are doing nothing that is dangerous or experimental. . . . This puts the property into a use that is socially responsible and fills a need in society.”

Neighbors who are concerned about such a large project in an area dominated by single-family homes are expected at tonight’s hearing.

“I wish I could say this would be so good for the seniors it would be worth the extra density, but it’s not,” neighbor Terri Sargeant said. “I think (the seniors) could be real good neighbors, but right now the project isn’t right for them.”