PLACENTIA

A local preservation group plans to appeal to the City Council next week to save the Brower orchard from development. Escrow is expected to close soon on the 3.6-acre grove at Bastanchury Road and Valencia Avenue, prompting members of the group, Preserve Our Past, to circulate petitions calling on the city to buy the 94-year-old orchard and ranch house and preserve the site as a historical landmark. Group representatives said this week they have collected more than 2,000 of the approximately 3,000 signatures needed to put the matter to a public vote. The council meets at 7 p.m. Tuesday at City Hall, 401 E. Chapman Ave. Information: (714) 528-1860.