Tighter Zoning Helps Preserve Areas of Older Housing

Every revolution has a flash point. For preservationists in Santa Ana, it was Chestnut Street, where ornate mansions built a century ago were systematically razed in the 1960s, ‘70s and ‘80s to make way for apartments.

“We saw what was happening to that beautiful street and said, ‘This has to stop,’ ” said Diann Marsh, who lives in the historic French Park district near downtown.

“We were so sad to see them go,” she said of the Victorian-era homes. “We decided it was time the city listened to us.”

Their pleas, and those of preservationists across Orange County, have resulted in dramatic zoning changes that now protect historic homes from demolition and ban new “dingbat” apartment buildings in older districts of Santa Ana, Fullerton and other cities.

Still, the proliferation of apartment complexes remains one of the most controversial--and some say destructive--legacies of Orange County’s post-World War II development boom.

The demolition of Craftsman-style bungalows, Tudor duplexes and other modest prewar dwellings in favor of boxy, high-density apartments did more than alter the appearance and atmosphere of downtown residential districts.

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Critics contend that the apartments clogged streets with parked cars, replaced attentive homeowners with absentee landlords and resulted in increased crime and neighborhood blight.

Even in historic districts that won restrictive zoning, residents said they still must deal with the problems posed by existing “dingbat” buildings, which range from properties with unresponsive owners to those overcrowded with tenants.

“Some people say the city should just bulldoze these apartments,” said Ed McKie, a downtown Santa Ana preservationist and resident.

“But that’s not going to happen,” he said. “We have to really work hard to make sure the apartments are kept up properly. It’s the only realistic approach.”

Along the tree-lined streets of McKie’s French Court neighborhood, mammoth 1960s-era apartment complexes tower above one-story California bungalows and European revival homes.

A half-century ago, French Court and other prewar districts across the county consisted mainly of compact bungalows, an inexpensive and popular form of housing for middle-class families.

But beginning in the late 1940s, the bungalows fell out of favor as homeowners flocked to the larger tract houses being built on the outskirts of town.

Some cities responded by increasing the zoning density in older neighborhoods to allow for apartment buildings.

City planners predicted that the multiunit dwellings would appeal to single professionals. They also hoped the influx of renters would boost the fortunes of nearby downtown business districts that were declining as suburban shopping centers developed.

Though the apartments met a growing need for affordable housing, they also altered the character of neighborhoods.

“I think the apartments were definitely a mistake. They tend to look cheap and undistinguished,” said Dave Zenger, a member of Fullerton Heritage, a preservation group. “But they spurred people to get together and preserve their neighborhoods.”

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In the 1980s, residents in Fullerton’s historic College Park district pushed the city to create a special “preservation” zoning to protect the neighborhood’s rows of bungalows. The rules don’t ban multiunit dwellings, but they protect the facades of older homes and require extensive design reviews of new building plans.

“We wanted to keep the streetscape of single-story houses with front porches,” Zenger said. “It is a compromise. It doesn’t prevent all new development.”

But zoning is only half the battle. Activists and preservationists in Santa Ana found that keeping their neighborhoods free of blight meant casting both apartment owners and residents in an active role.

McKie and other members of the French Court Neighborhood Assn. have pushed landlords to install alley lighting, improve landscaping, make building repairs and conduct screening checks of potential renters.

“There has been a dramatic improvement in the appearance of the buildings . . . and of the entire neighborhood,” McKie said. “It’s made a big difference.”