Streets Will Be Given to Chapman

City officials are prepared to turn over small slices of Orange Street and Sycamore Avenue to Chapman University after a public hearing on the issue tonight.

A stretch of Orange Street between Walnut Avenue and Sycamore, as well as the part of Sycamore west of Orange Street, are slated to become part of a university parking lot.

University business officials over the years have bought 11 homes that faced that part of Orange Street. Some of the homes built between 1906 and 1920 were relocated; others were torn down.

The university now owns the property on both sides of the road.

A city staff report stated that the public does not need access to the street sections because traffic is related solely to the school.

Under the agreement, the university will be responsible for maintaining the roadways and for replacing public road signs with private ones.

The public will be allowed to use the road until the university builds a turn-around area.

That portion of the street will eventually be absorbed into a large, consolidated parking lot, said Joe E. Foust, an engineering consultant to the city.

The hearing begins at 7 p.m. at City Hall, 300 E. Chapman Ave. Information: (714) 755-5500.