Foothills Sentry February 2021

Page 5 Foothills Sentry February 2021 Circulation … 41,750 Published on the last Tuesday of each month and distributed to residences, businesses, libraries and civic centers. 714-532-4406 Fax: 714-532-6755 foothillssentry.com 1107 E. Chapman Ave., #207 Orange, CA 92866 © Foothills Sentry 2020 Publisher/Editor Anita Bennyhoff 1969-2013 Editor Tina Richards editor@foothillssentry.com Sports Editor Cliff Robbins sportseditor@att.net Graphic Designer Aimee Armstrong graphics@foothillssentry.com Advertising Sales Andie Mills advertising@foothillssentry.com 714-926-9299 Office Manager Kathy Eidson officemanager@foothillssentry. com McMiffed Dear Editor: Re: Ronald McDonald House expansion. I’m embarrassed to hear of what the Design Review Committee is doing in this case. What an egregious overstepping of DRC power is its position on the Ronald McDonald House plans to expand. The only property even remote- ly affected by the RMH expan- sion is 802 Clark Street, on the back side of the proposed expan- sion. Hardly a reason to deny it. This is not another office building or a giant, heart of Old Towne, down- town Orange cement parking structure. Leads one to believe some- thing nefarious is afoot or a palm wasn’t properly greased. Matt Sanders Orange A cautionary tale Dear Editor: Disappointed again! When looking at the agenda for the January Orange City Council meeting, I noticed that Sully-Miller was on it with Kim Nichols’ name next to it. There was no description. That got me thinking that Kim was going to apologize to the citizens of the city for approving the Milan housing development at Sully- Miller. I speculated that she might be feeling bad for disregarding the 80-plus people opposed to the project who spoke at the council meeting. Or she felt bad about causing hundreds of volunteers to spend thousands of hours of labor getting signatures to put the mea- sure on the ballot; or, thinking of apologizing for not rescinding her vote after the successful referen- dum. Yes, I was sure she was going to apologize because she was one of the city leaders who did noth- ing when citizens complained about the illegal dumping at Sully-Miller. The city let it go on for years. Then in 2020 two key events took place: the County Local Enforcement Agency dis- covered that there were no per- mits for the dumping operation and issued a cease-and-desist order to stop, plus Orange vot- ers overwhelmingly rejected the council’s approvals. That would’ve been a good time for city leaders to apologize to their citizens. But nope. No apology, just an odd inquiry that felt like she was fishing for a way to bail out Milan, again. David Hillman Orange Dear Editor: When I reviewed the Jan. 12 Orange City Council agenda, I noticed that “Sully-Miller” was listed under Reports from Coun- cilmembers (Kim Nichols). There was no staff report or de- tails to inform the public what to expect. Orange residents are really at a disadvantage because of the self-imposed restrictions the city council has put on public com- ments. If I were at a pre-COVID council meeting, I would have had a chance to hear the item be- fore I made my comments. Now I can only guess why it was placed on the agenda. Yes, COVID-19 has impacted public meetings, but technology is available so cit- izens don’t have to guess and can participate in real-time. Our city council needs to catch up with technology. That said, I hope our new coun- cilmembers will take the time to understand the history of Sully- Miller and the land-use docu- ments that cover the site. Milan, the landowner, has cre- ated added hazards with its illegal dumping operations and the 40- foot mounds it has been allowed to create. The site has been unreg- ulated for years; there have been no permits since 2014. City over- sight has been minimal, causing it to become a public nuisance. If I were a new councilmember, I would want to get to the bottom of why the city has looked the other way. I hope they will ask probing questions and request straight answers. We welcome their help, as we have been trying for years to get answers -- only to be ignored. Laura Thomas Orange Dear Editor: I was a little bewildered when I saw that “Sully-Miller” was on the Jan. 12 city council agenda. Not knowing the exact intent of the item, I figured I would take the opportunity to remind the city council that we are still awaiting their response from a request we made 446 days ago. On Sept. 23, 2019, the Edg- comb Law Group, representing OPA, sent the city council a letter, which provided the legal basis for halting Milan’s activities at the former Sully-Miller site, and es- tablished the city’s enforcement authority to do so. To date, there has not been a re- sponse to the Edgcomb letter. OPA has contended for years that the concrete crushing and stockpiling at the Sully-Miller site is unauthorized and illegal, and should be prohibited by the city. These activities violate numer- ous provisions of the Orange Mu- nicipal Code and constitute a le- gal nuisance. The city has refused to use its enforcement authority to order the termination of Mi- lan’s imported concrete crushing and stockpiling operation. Thankfully, the Orange County Local Enforcement Agency in- tervened with a cease and desist order and has exposed Milan’s illegal operation. That effort con- tinues to yield more evidence. I will repeat our request made 446 days ago from the Edgcomb letter, page 11: “OPA appreciates the City’s attention regarding this very important matter and looks forward to your response.” We await your reply. Sherry Panttaja Orange Don't wait up Dear Editor: When my husband and I pur- chased our home in 1987, we were advised that the Sully-Mill- er property (across the street) was designated park/open space. That status is confirmed in the East Orange General Plan, the Orange Park Acres Specific Plan, and the Orange General Plan. The East Orange General Plan, approved in 1975, states that “Every effort should be made to phase out the gravel pit and restore the natural riparian com- munities at the earliest possible time.” The plan provides criti- cal reasons why this area must remain open space. Over time, the site began to naturally restore itself; however, council and city staff neglected numerous oppor- tunities to formally shut down the crushing operation. Instead, they looked the other way and allowed the six-acre op- eration to illegally expand. They neglected their responsibilities, failed to monitor the site, allowed illegal dumping and other activi- ties without appropriate permits. In September 2019 the city was sent a letter from Attorney John Edgcomb outlining the history of the site and including multi- ple enforcement actions the city needed to take to close the illegal crushing operation. The letter was never acknowledged or acted upon. In 2020 the County of Orange Health Department intervened to stop illegal operations on the site, something that should have been addressed by our city years ago. Milan needs to be held account- able for the closure and cleanup of the site. Why hasn’t the city joined with the county in this effort? Why has the city refused to protect the public? I hope our new council- members will reach out to those of us who have worked on this is- sue for many years. Bonnie Robinson Orange February 2020 council meeting. Debate to regulate In February, the council declined to adopt that ordinance and, instead, asked for an ordinance that would allow STRs in residential neighborhoods, with sufficient restrictions to reduce their impact on surrounding households. The planning commission approved that ordinance in August, but when it came back to the council in November, it, too, was rejected. The vote was two (Mark Murphy, Kim Nichols) in favor, and two (Mike Alvarez, Chip Monaco) against. Staff was again directed to proceed with the ban ordinance and suggest policy options to enforce it. Staff hedged its bets at the Jan. 12 meeting, providing the coun- cil with the option to prohibit all STRs in the city or exclude owner-occupied rentals because they would be harder to track and likely be less disruptive to neigh- borhoods. “I thought we were doing a full ban,” Councilmember Arianna Barrios queried at the onset of the STR discussion. “Are there now other options on the table? Whether it’s a full ban or partial ban, will that be decided tonight?” “Everything is on the table,” City Attorney Gary Sheatz said. “The council must decide exactly what we are banning.” Keeping score Councilmember Chip Monaco pointed out that two councilmen had wanted to ban them com- pletely, even as the process to regulate them continued. He re- minded his colleagues that a ban had been approved by the plan- ning commission, but then rolled back by the city council. He also noted that issuing busi- ness licenses for them was a mis- take, but “a staff member giving out a business license is not the same as creating legislation to permit them.” Councilman Jon Dumitru want- ed it clarified that STRs are in residential neighborhoods while hotels and motels are in commer- cial districts. Mike Alvarez questioned the staff report that said the city gets two to three complaints a week about them, suggesting it was actually more. “I know a lot of complaints don’t make it to city hall,” he said, “and the numbers come from code enforcement, not the police. We don’t really know the number of complaints.” Time out There was time for 21 public comments to be read aloud before the meeting was adjourned at 11 p.m. Of those, four supported a ban, the rest opposed it. The council’s year-long ban- versus-regulate discussion of STRs is partly due to the council’s hopes that COVID restrictions would be lifted and residents could participate in an in-person discussion at city hall. “We felt the issue required public participation," Monaco said. The other reason may be that the former four-person council was evenly split on the issue. With three new members ready to add their votes to the tally, the issue may soon be decided. It is continued to the Feb. 9 meeting. "Vote" continued from page 1 Despite the pandemic, the Or- ange Elks received 15 entries, al- most half of its usual number, in its annual video contest address- ing the dangers of drug use. The winner in the middle school category is “Think Twice” by Keiana DeGrave, seventh grade, Cerro Villa Middle School. At the high school level, “Drug Abuse? No Excuse” by Calden Schlechter, a Canyon High School junior prevailed. In the post-high school category, the winner is “Stop the Cycle” by Vicki Mull, MFA, El Modena High School instructor. Mull appeared in last year's national award-winning video. The winning videos will con- tinue on to state competition, and may go on to compete nationally. Elks name Drug Awareness contest winners