Commission OKs Plan to Raze Old Packinghouse

A plan to demolish one of the county’s last orange packinghouses and replace it with a housing development won approval this week from the county Planning Commission and goes before the Board of Supervisors for a final vote next month.

The Olive Heights Citrus Assn. packinghouse, located off Lincoln Avenue in the community of Olive, north of Orange, closed in 1984 and has been deteriorating rapidly after a series of arson fires. The roof has collapsed, and the distinctive “Orange Sunkist Orange” logo is peeling away.

Residents have complained that the building is an unstable eyesore sometimes inhabited by homeless people.

“It’s really become a public safety problem,” said Robert Tunstall, an aide to Supervisor William G. Steiner. “The residents believe that tearing it down will improve the community.”

If supervisors approve the plan, a developer will raze the building early next year and replace it with 36 homes.