PLACENTIA : Proposal to Build 43 Homes to Be Reviewed

A $10-million proposal to build 43 homes on what is now a five-acre strawberry field will be reviewed tonight by the Planning Commission.

The panel had asked city planners earlier to adjust the design of streets for the detached-home development, which would be north of City Hall between Kraemer Boulevard and All America Way.

“We just did a little fine-tuning,” said Senior Planner Raynald F. Pascua, who is also the city’s project manager for the development.

Several residents questioned the number of homes planned for the site and whether sidewalks would be constructed on All America Way for children who use the street to walk to school.

Pascua said that the project is within the city’s density limits for the site and that sidewalks are planned.

Developer Tom Williams, owner of Saddleback Land and Development Co., said the tile-roofed homes would be in character with the Spanish-style architecture of the redeveloped downtown area. The homes would range in size from 1,680 to 2,040 square feet, and prices would start at $215,000.

There has been a flurry of proposals for the city’s remaining undeveloped land since the first of the year, city building officials said. The largest remaining parcels are about 200 acres near the Alta Vista Country Club and about 300 acres east of Rose Drive, where more than 300 homes already have been constructed.

“Placentia is pretty much built out,” said Williams, a Newport Beach resident who grew up in Placentia. “What’s left is very much sought after.”