Fullerton Development: Where’s the Open Space?

Re “Groves and Open Space Needed for O.C.’s Future,” May 13:

Regarding Fullerton Mayor F. Richard Jones’ seeming to prefer development rather than preserve the last of Coyote Hills, those of us present at the hearing on approval of the latest development heard the developer’s presenter state that he had been advised by Jones on what to do for the presentation. What can you expect from a man who suggested publicly that it would be just as well if the Fox Theater in downtown Fullerton burned down?

Judith A. Kaluzny

Fullerton

The mayor is misguided in saying that half of the Hawks Pointe development already approved by the city will be preserved as open space. In March, the mayor voted to approve the city’s own environmental impact report, which stated there would be 31 acres of open space in the 86-acre project. It is a slight exaggeration to say that 31 is half of 86.

Furthermore, much of this open space is designated on city maps as steep slope and unstable soil not suitable for development in any event. What the developer proposes is to bulldoze more than 1 million cubic yards of earth, destroying most of the natural topography in the process, including canyons and ridgelines.

Harvey Blend

Fullerton