Foothills Sentry January 2023

Page 3 Foothills Sentry January 2023 7540 E. Chapman Ave. Orange, CA 92869 (714) 639-9792 MEAT&DELI, PRODUCE, BAKERY, FRESH FISH, GIFT BASKETS, WINE MON-SAT: 8am - 9pmSUN: 8am - 8pm www.Pac i�i cRanchMarket.com $ OFF Excluding alcoholic beverages and tobacco products. With coupon only. May not be combined with any other offer or discount. Limit one coupon per customer. Valid only at P aci�ic Ranch Market. When You Spend $25 or More * EXPIRES: 1/31/22 5 OC’s Premier ProduceMarket The Assisteens Auxiliary of Assistance League of Orange gathered its 120-plus members in December for a group photo for the first time in three years. Despite having to operate its many philanthropic programs differently during the pandemic, the auxiliary of teens from area schools, junior high through high Assisteens “Aspire to Inspire” with kindness Assisteens Auxiliary 2022-2023 school, has grown its membership and continued to focus on its core values of respect, integrity, kind- ness, commitment and service. The students meet monthly, de- velop leadership and teamwork, and gain job experience while volunteering with philanthropic programs in the community. Chairman Simone Bilodeau’s theme, “Aspire to Inspire,” is carried out with monthly guest speakers who build on that theme. The plaudits from parents and philanthropic partners indicate how the group’s efforts impact others in the community. For information on how to be- come involved with Assisteens, visit AssisteensofOrange.com. "VP Council" continued from page 1 The Orange Elks Lodge 1475 “tree lot” at the Orange Home Grown Farmers & Artisans Market featured unique Orange-centric Christ- mas trees, built by Elks members. The $1,500 raised was donated to El Modena Family Resource Center. Shown here are tree creator JC Cortez and wife Megan. The new Villa Park City Council enjoys the holiday season in advance of its first meeting. From left, Robbie Pitts, Jordan Wu, Nicol Jones, Vince Rossini and Crystal Miles. By David Hillman First it was the former Sul- ly-Miler site. Now, more open space, less than a mile away, is in jeopardy. In 2020, Orange voters over- whelmingly rejected Measure AA which sought to develop the 109- acre parcel on Santiago Canyon Road known as the Sully-Miller site. Earlier that same year, the county discovered the operator, a subsidiary of Chandler’s Sand and Gravel, had been illegally dumping construction waste on that site. The county issued an im - mediate cease and desist order to Milan, the landowner and Chan- dler affiliate. While clean-up ne - gotiations are underway on Sully- Miller, now another subsidiary of Chandler is seeking to dump more fill at the Hurwitz site, be - hind the Blue Ribbon Nursery, also on Santiago Canyon Road, just west of Cannon. Chandler’s business model is to reclaim “disturbed sites” for profit. However, the Hurwitz site is not a disturbed site. It is one of the most beautiful places for miles around, but few are aware of it. It is a riparian haven for en - dangered species. The Santa Ana Regional Water Quality Control Board is process- ing Chandler’s application for the 14-acre Hurwitz site. According to the Regional Water Board, the proposed project would, “fill an abandoned open pit mine with inert material and grade the site to an elevation equal to the adja- cent parcels.” Clearly, the Water Board staff has not visited the site or watched our video (https://ti- nyurl.com/hurwitz2022 ), because they would see that this site is not an “abandoned open pit mine” but rather a beautiful canyon with wetlands. Approving this appli - cation would fill wetlands and waters of the state, impact endan- gered species and cause other sig- nificant environmental impacts. Chandler’s proposal includes a fill operation of massive propor - tions: 1,240,000 cubic yards of fill material to be dumped on the Hurwitz site site to bring it up to grade. This will require 60 truck trips per day, for a total of 70,000 truckloads, wreaking havoc on East Orange and Villa Park neighborhoods for five years. This is also within 300 feet of the water recharge basin. This proposal is subject to Cal- ifornia Environmental Quality Act (CEQA), but the Water Board is not requiring an Environmen - tal Impact Report (EIR). They are using a Mitigated Negative Declaration (MND), which short- circuits the ability of the Water Board and the public to learn the real impacts. The Water Board doesn't re - quire Chandler to disclose its end game, or the purpose for filling in this site. Like Sully-Miller, the Hurwitz site is not zoned for houses. A General Plan amend - ment and zone change would be needed for a housing develop- ment (which we suspect is their plan). Orange residents have advocat- ed for the protection of Santiago Creek for a half-century. In the 1970s, both the county and the Orange City Council helped cre- ate the Santiago Creek Greenbelt Plan. That plan, part of the city’s General Plan, designated Sully- Miller and the Hurwitz site to be open space once the mining had ceased. Citizens want their neighbor - hoods protected, and have a his- tory of pushing back when short- sighted city politicians disregard their carefully crafted city and community plans. The good news is, we have a new mayor and new council members. We hope they will support our efforts to stop this proposal. More impor - tantly, this is a discretionary ac- tion, meaning the Regional Water Board can deny this application. This is the time to make your voice heard. We are asking that the Water Board staff (1.) extend the comment to Feb. 10 and (2.) require a full EIR. Ultimately, we are urging the Santa Ana Regional Water Quali - ty Control Board to deny this pro- posal. Send comments by 5 p.m. on Jan. 10 to Claudia.Tenorio@ WaterBoards.ca.gov. David Hillman has lived in Or- ange since 1963. Guest Commentary Orange open space threatened again he heard that many wanted Pitts as mayor. Jones noted that Ros - sini himself had previously voted against tradition. She went on to say that the sim- ple math of five councilmembers serving in four years did not al- low each the opportunity to serve as mayor -- and suggested that Rossini remove his name from consideration. Rossini addressed the per- ceived divisiveness, then with- drew his nomination, saying he would accept mayor pro tem. Miles logged her disappoint- ment that he would forego the office of mayor, lobbing another “divisive” jab at Jones and Wu. Wu rebutted that, though she had garnered more votes, he was duly elected and each of the council- members now had just one vote and should cast it on behalf of their constituents. With Rossini withdrawing, Robbie Pitts was named mayor in a unanimous vote. Rossini was elected mayor pro tem. Pitts, noted for his Southern gentleman manners, expressed his enthu- siasm for working with the new council.