Orange, Developer OK Plan to Spare Trees
About 80 large pine and ficus trees planted when David Hewes Park opened in the late 1880s will remain undisturbed under a plan worked out with the developer of the site near Esplanade Street and La Veta Avenue in Orange.
Another 64 trees may be uprooted and then replanted around the site to make way for the large, two-story homes to be built as part of a gated community.
A proposal to build 11 homes on about nine acres of the former 12-acre park was approved by the City Council this week after developer Timothy N. Roberts, president of Huntington Beach-based TNR Development Corp., promised that every tree that can be saved will be saved.
Some neighbors complained about the development of the lot, saying they feared a loss of privacy. Original plans called for building up to 35 homes on the site.
“The more we got into the property, the more we realized the complexity of the property and its amenities: the trees,” said Roberts, who added: “It’s another world there, and we wanted to keep that bird sanctuary going.”
Under the conditions of the agreement, the trees will be protected by fencing and other measures while the land is being graded.
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