Page 7 Foothills Sentry FEBRUARY 2025 LOVE Orange dan@DanSlater.com 714-744-2202 1537 E. Chapman Ave. Orange, CA 92866 DAN SLATER From left, Communications Chair Shandra Wilson, at-large board member Ryan Cavalier, Renee Chavarria and at-large board member Sean Chavarria listen intently. OTPA president Rob Boice stresses that it’s all about preservation. “Old Towne is too important to lose.” Brandy Romero, community involvement chair, left and Marva Hitchcock enjoy pre-meeting camaraderie. Past OTPA President Sandy Quinn encourages the membership to accept board nominees for 2025, which they did. OTPA (and City of Orange) Treasurer Garrett Smith and District 1 City Councilwoman Arianna Barrios Annual OTPA meeting focuses on . . . preservation The 39th annual general meeting of the Old Towne Preservation Association (OTPA) offered insights into the efforts made to ensure Orange’s historic district remains the “jewel” that it is today. “We’re totally preservation minded,” President Rob Boice told the gathering. “Most of it is done behind the scenes. We closely monitor the city council, the Design Review Committee (DRC), Planning Commission and meet with staff to ensure Old Towne’s interests are represented.” Boice noted that OTPA worked with the city on its objective design standards, created recently to comply with state law. The city had previously relied on a series of subjective design standards to guide development. The state, however, maintained that “subjective” standards gave cities too much leeway to “get in the way of” building projects. Objective standards are less stringent, but provide legal guidelines that developers must follow. OTPA reviewed the draft standards, offered improvements and suggestions. Boice reports that all of the association’s comments were included. “The city respects and listens to us,” he said. “We made the objective standards as tight as possible.” A memorandum of understanding between OTPA and the Orange Legacy Alliance will enable a more citywide focus on preservation. That partnership will bolster Old Towne’s existing preservation “tools,” the Mills Act, DRC and the city’s preservation ordinance. An Old Towne committee is currently preparing a report for the city assessing the Mills Act and DRC. It is due in March. Treasurer Garrett Smith reported that the organization’s finances are sound. It has $134,000 in the bank and “made a little money” from Treats in the Streets, the October event that OTPA took over from the city. It was also noted that Old Towne generates some $1.2 million in sales tax for the city every year. While the City of Orange lost its historic preservation planner, it is seeking a replacement. Assistant Community Development Director Anna Pehoushek reported that the city has an on-call contractor for historic preservation, staff attends a summer program for preservation planning and prepares historic resource analyses that get “lots of review.” In addition to its annual Halloween and Holiday house lighting contests, OTPA plans to host an Art of Wine event and home tour this year. Photos by Tony Richards
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