Foothills Sentry March 2021

NEWS INSIDE East Orange • Old Towne Orange • Orange Park Acres • Villa Park • Silverado/Modjeska Canyons • North Tustin A Monthly Community Newspaper March 2021 *********ECRWSSEDDM**** Residential Customer Letters To The Editor Page 5 Canyon Beat Page 6 Service Directory Pages 11-13 Prof. Directory Page 13 Classifieds Page 13 Real Estate Page 14 The Best News In Town Since 1969 STEP THIS WAY Orange leadership slow to embrace distinctive neighborhoods and districts. See Guest Commentaries, page 4 FOLLOW US at Foothills Sentry See "Dorms" continued on page 2 TASTE ON TAP Microbreweries strive to survive with creatively crafted libations. See Local, page 9 MI CASA SU CASA Orange wrestles with for-profit vacation rentals in residential neighborhoods. See Short-term, page 2 THE CAT IN THE HABITAT Urban expansion squeezes stomping grounds for wild cats. See Bobcats, page 15 MISTAKEN IDENTITY Requests for leeway in property improvements in Villa Park raises an unrequited ruckus. See Variances, page 10 Orange tackles illegal dorms in single-family neighborhoods By Tina Richards An urgency ordinance prohib- iting additions of three or more bedrooms and bathrooms to sin- gle-family homes on lots 12,000 sq. ft. or less was passed by the Orange City Council during an emergency meeting, Feb. 16. A second ordinance regulating ac- cessory dwelling units (ADUs) was approved by the Planning Commission, Feb. 17, and will be considered by the council on March 8. The city’s action was in re- sponse to the conversion of an increasing number of homes near Chapman University into dorm-like housing. The builder, Young Lewin Capital, has al- ready converted several homes on Cambridge and nearby streets into student housing, with at least one occupied by a fraternity. The company advertises another 10 remodels in the area, each with seven to eight bedrooms/bath- rooms to accommodate university students. The company states its goal is to “create a student hous- ing assemblage.” Young Lewin took advantage of a California mandate that mu- nicipalities must allow accessory dwelling units (ADU) of 1,200 sq. ft. or less to be built on single- family lots. The builder appar- ently applied for ADU permits for residences it planned to renovate for student housing. It was not until neighbors complained about the multi-bedroom/bathroom dor- mitories replacing single-family homes that city officials became aware of the deceit. It's a stretch The construction reported by residents was clearly not within the realm of the ADU guidelines allowed by the state. Many Cam- bridge Street residents described them as boarding houses, a use strictly prohibited by the Orange Municipal Code. After the city received numer- ous emails and phone calls, and a virtual town hall meeting was hosted by Councilmember Ari- anna Barrios, the issue was agen- dized for the Feb. 9 council meet- ing. At that time, City Attorney Public participation in Orange council meetings remains a challenge for city and citizens By Tina Richards The Orange City Council’s ef- fort to accommodate live public comments at its meetings left many would-be speakers feeling silenced and left out. Commencing with the Feb. 9 meeting, people who want to address the council “live,” are invited to show up at city hall, sign in and then be ushered to the podium in the empty council chamber when it is their turn to speak. Appearing on camera before the remotely tuned-in councilmembers, speakers are given the standard three minutes to state their business. Emailed comments are still accepted, but they are no longer being read aloud during meet- ings. The public is also welcome to record messages by phone, but they will not be played during the meetings, either. Both written and recorded comments are provided to council members, but people watching the meetings online will not be privy to them during the session. Didn’t get the memo Many viewers and written commenters were unaware of the new procedure. It was included in the Feb. 9 agenda and announced on social media in advance of the meeting, but the message apparently did not reach very far. Two people came to city hall for the February meeting. One learned of the new procedure that day, when he called city hall to inquire about a proclamation. The other was told by a neighbor that he must go to the council cham- ber in person if he wanted to be heard. “They aren’t going to read written comments,” he said. “So I found out at the last minute I have to be here.” The revised public comment procedures are the city’s response to complaints from constituents that monotone renditions of the written word did not capture the flavor or passion intended by the individual who submitted them. It had also been noted that other municipalities and government agencies have been able to accommodate live speakers. Surprise package Councilwoman Ana Gutierrez recalled that, at the January meet- ing, the council had discussed three options to improve the pub- lic comment experience. The pre- ferred option was establishing a secondary online platform where- in commenters could be patched into the primary meeting when it was their turn to speak. City Manager Rick Otto was asked to look into it. “We had talked about that hybrid version,” Gutierrrez reminded her colleagues, “and this isn’t it. We didn’t have much public participation. I think we should try to do what we said we would do in January.” “This was an attempt to make things like they would be if coun- cil meetings were live,” Mayor Mark Murphy said. “It’s unfortu- nate that folks chose not to par- ticipate.” “Let’s not let perfect be the en- emy of good,” Councilman Chip Monaco advised. “We do hear cit- izens' voices in their emails. Try- ing to accommodate everything in this awkward environment is frustrating. No matter what we do, we’ll be criticized for not do- ing enough.” “Many people do not want to take the risk and come out,” Guti- errez said. “This option (live at See "Orange council" continued on page 5 Court rules Alvarez ineligible for council seat A judgment was entered into Superior Court, Feb. 23, in fa- vor of two Orange residents and against Mike Alvarez in a case challenging his eligibility to hold the District 3 seat on the Orange City Council. The judgment nullifies the Nov. 3, 2020 Third District elec- tion and declares that council seat vacant. The ruling also nullifies the certificate of election issued by the Registrar of Voters declar- ing Alvarez the winner and bars him from being elected or ap- pointed to a public office in any Orange council district for two years. The enforcement of the judg- ment is stayed for 10 days, giving Alvarez time to appeal the deci- sion rendered by Judge Nathan Scott earlier this month. The judge had ruled, Feb. 4, that Alvarez was ineligible to run for a city council seat last No- vember because, having served two consecutive terms, he was legally termed out of office. The ruling was in response to two court challenges brought forward by two separate Orange residents. Both lawsuits asked the court to affirm the term lim- its enacted by voters in 1996 and find Alvarez’s third term in viola- tion of the law. Alvarez’s attorney argued that term limits did not apply in this case, because the city had switched to by-district voting and his new seat, representing District 3, was different than his former seat as a city-wide repre- sentative. Attorney Mark Rosen further argued that term limits had been implicitly repealed when the city went to district in- stead of at-large elections. “The redistricting ordinance and resulting code sections were silent on term limits,” Scott ruled. “No initiative revising terms lim- its to address district elections was submitted to the voters. The legal standard is straightforward. As of the 2020 election, Alva- rez had served more than two consecutive four-year terms as a member of the city council.” A waterfall in the City of Orange? It’s a little-known interlude along the Santiago Creek Trail, hidden from all but a few hardy hikers. This portion of the creek lies near a wetland on private property that was recently declared to be “waters of the state” by the Santa Ana Regional Water Quality Control Board. See “The Secrets,” page 8. Photo by Tony Richards