Council OKs Revised Holly-Seacliff Project

Two proposed neighborhoods in the Holly-Seacliff development will have fewer homes but a larger business area, a plan that both pleased and worried neighbors.

“We are excited that the housing density is lower,” said Colleen Wilson, a board member of the nearby Hampton Homeowner Assn., during a public hearing on the issue Monday. “Our concern is noise pollution. . . . This is where we chose to live and to be backed up to a super-supermarket is not what we bought our homes for.”

The project now calls for up to 205 homes on the 58-acre parcel, 563 fewer units than in the original plans. A commercial area at Garfield Avenue and Golden West Street will be 11 acres, instead of the original 7-acre plan.

City Council members unanimously approved the proposal, which involved zoning and other changes.

Councilman Dave Garofalo added a provision recommending that the Planning Commission seek concessions for neighbors from the developer, Newport Beach-based PLC Land Co.

The suggestions include heightening a 5-foot wall that buffers neighbors from the site, shortening construction hours, reviewing traffic plans and more landscaping.

“I have so much sympathy for people on Edwards Hill,” he said, after neighbors complained about constant dirt and noise from building in the area.

City planners said the changes make sense because fewer homes will fit in better with the surrounding neighborhoods. And the larger commercial site at a major intersection will add more to city coffers and allow for more flexible design, city reports said.