Council to Consider Parker Ranch Plan

The City Council will consider the fate of the proposed Parker Ranch development tonight.

The project of 195 homes and 324 apartments would be built south of Los Angeles Avenue next to the Metrolink station.

The Planning Commission unanimously approved the plan May 22.

The apartments would be the first multifamily units built in the city in 10 years. Eighty-one of the apartments are considered affordable housing.

But council members say there are some key issues to be resolved.

Among them are how many sidewalks developer Gorian Sinay Co. will build, whether the three-story apartment buildings will have elevators and whether to let developers build on protected hillsides.

Dozens of residents have voiced their opposition, arguing that the affordable apartments will foster crime and that the city doesn’t have a strong enough retail economy to handle the new residents.

Police officials have said there is no correlation between low-income housing and crime in the city.

The Parker Ranch proposal has been stalled for three years as city leaders asked the developers to comply with several requests. Among those were performing a more detailed environmental study and providing a better access road.

The developer has reached an agreement with the Brandeis-Bardin Institute to build a road through their property, city planner Paul Drury said.

“[Gorian] has done everything we have asked them to do,” Councilwoman Barbra Williamson said. “I don’t know what more we can ask of them.”

The City Council will meet at 6:30 p.m. at City Hall, 2929 Tapo Canyon Road.