Foothills Sentry February 2020

Foothills Sentry Page 4 February 2020 By Tina Richards Chapman University’s plans to amend its Specific Plan to incor- porate additional properties and increase enrollment were pre- sented at a public scoping meet- ing, Jan. 16. The updated plan reflects con- cerns raised by Orange residents in 2015, when an earlier version was met with substantial resis- tance from the university’s Old Towne neighbors. At that time, students were renting housing throughout Old Towne and be- yond, and creating noise, traffic and parking problems, and dis- turbing neighborhoods with all- night parties that filtered out into the streets. Chapman’s 2015 Specific Plan amendment called for 11,650 ad- ditional students. Following pub- lic outcry against the increase, the university took steps to improve its relationship with its neighbors. It hired a vice president of com- munity relations, created a com- munity working group to address issues, added 1,301 beds and cracked down on misbehaving students. Heads up The new plan looks to increase student enrollment from 8,700 to 10,185 over the next 10 years. It mandates that 50 percent of un- dergraduates live on campus, and all first and second year students not living with family also reside on campus. The university will also augment programs to deal with off-campus student issues, have more faculty and staff living within the community and offer a 24-hour help line for residents experiencing students behaving badly. The Specific Plan governs the use, density and design of future development within the total 72.75 acres it will cover. An- ticipated projects include new on-campus housing and addi- tional faculty/staff housing in Old Towne; reuse of the Villa Park Orchards Packinghouse; ex- panding Dodge College of Film and Media Arts; building out the Keck Center of Science and En- gineering; expanding parking; and creating new academic facili- ties and food service venues. The Jan. 16 meeting was the first step in the plan’s approval process. Attended by some 100 mostly Old Towne residents, the purpose was to identify en- vironmental impacts that neigh- bors want to see addressed in the forthcoming Environmental Impact Report (EIR). Issues of interest to residents are traffic, noise, density and Old Towne ambiance. More time to talk It will be several months before the EIR is complete, and respons- es filed. Following that exercise, Chapman’s Specific Plan amend- ments will be heard by the plan- ning commission and then the Orange City Council. “There will be many oppor- tunities for the public to ask questions about the project and provide input,” Orange Planner Kelly Ribuffo explained. “Right now, we’re focused on the EIR.” “We’ve been listening to you since 2015,” Vice President of Community Relations Jack Raubolt told meeting attendees. “We’ve had 32 liaison visits with the Orange Police Department, we amended the city’s distur- bance ordnance and there are greater consequences for repeat student offenders. Now, only one in five calls to the university is about loud and unruly students.” Not everyone in the audience was satisfied. “I live next door to a Chapman party house,” an Old Towne resident sighed. “If Chap- man adds one more student, I’m going to move.” Chapman expansion plans presented to Old Towne audience Detailed plans to safely evacu- ate East Orange residents during a fire emergency were presented by the Orange Police Department at the Jan. 14 city council meeting. The designated evacuation routes, developed with input from Orange police and fire, the Ana- heim police department, Orange County Sheriff’s and California Highway Patrol, are a result of the Canyon 1 and 2 Fires, wherein streets were gridlocked and resi- dents reported drive times of up to two hours to travel two to three miles. In most cases, residents will be evacuated in a western direc- tion, using westbound Serrano, northbound Cannon, westbound Santiago Canyon Road and west- bound Chapman Avenue. In an emergency, those arterials will be designated one-way only. The East Orange area has been divided into 10 segments, with more detailed exit routes defined for each one. A website, acces- sible via the police department home page, will enable residents to type in their address and find the route specific to them. Orange Park Acres, for ex- ample, would be directed down Orange Park Boulevard to either Chapman Avenue or Santiago Canyon Road. OPA residents north of Santiago Blvd. would be routed to that street – westbound only. Santiago Hills residents would have the option to take either westbound Chapman or southbound Jamboree. Neighbors using Cannon Street would be di- rected northbound. The police department is calling its evacuation program “Know Evacuation routes for East Orange identified Your Way,” and encourages resi- dents to look up designated evac- uation routes from their neighbor- hoods once the website goes live. Streets are also being identified with evacuation route signage. Police also note that while it’s a good idea for residents to know their exit routes before an emer- gency, those routes are subject to change, depending on a given fire’s path of travel. “The Know Your Way pro- gram’s success is dependent on people listening to us,” Chief Tom Kisela advises. “We spent a lot of time during the Canyon 2 Fire convincing people to leave.” Æ ô Æ ô Æ ô Æ ô HEWES S T C A N Y O N R D ORANGE PARK V I E W C A N Y O N C A N N O N S T RD C H A P M A N RANCHO C A N N O N S T AVE PARK AVE AVE AVE BLVD S E R R A N O AVE SANTIAGO B L V D S E R R A N O ST AVE VIA BLVD CANNON ST SAN T I A G O C AN N O N S T IM P E R I A L BIG S KY L N E S C O L A N E W P OR T SANTIAGO RD CANYON Belmont Park Serrano Park CerroVilla Park Santiago Hills Park SantiagoOaks RegionalPark andNatureCenter Irvine Regional Park PetersCanyon Regional Park FredBarrera Park EVACUATION AREAS I In most cases, we will evacuate people in a WESTERN direction •Westbound Serrano, Northbound Cannon St. •Westbound Santiago Canyon Rd. •Westbound Chapman Ave. Legend Æ ô Evacuation Road Block Evacuation Route #