Foothills Sentry May 2022

Page 3 Foothills Sentry May 2022 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: 05/31/22 5 OC’s Premier ProduceMarket As our County Superintendent of Schools Al Mijares has: • Established high expectations for students while cutting dropout rates by 50% • Emphasized career and college readiness • Supported comprehensive communication between OC school districts and their families • Focused on meeting the whole child with academic, behavioral and social-emotional needs resources • Ensured we have safe schools VOTE June 7 th to RE-ELECT Dr. Al Mijares, for OC Superintendent of Schools Paid for by Mijares for OC Superintendent of Schools, 2022 FPCC #1360779 Classic Car Show packs the Plaza The 26th Annual Orange Plaza Rotary Classic Car Show re- turned to Old Towne after a two- year pandemic hiatus, April 10. Some 400 pre-1975 automobiles surrounded the streets around the Plaza, hoods raised, bodies glis- tening, and each with a story to tell. A 1940 Chevy, 1948 Pontiac and 1942 Chevy The car show was organized this year by Tracy Curtis, left, with help from husband Jason Curtis, center, and advice from father Joe Columbo, right. Columbo passed the baton to his daughter this year, after spearheading the event for more than two decades. The 1971 Pontiac Lemans mascot keeps its pristine engine warm. Brothers Roger and Charlie Beers inherited this 1929 Model A classic from their dad, and give it the same care and respect that he did. “We’re keeping his legacy alive,” Roger Beers says. Artist Rod Sexton created the specialty trophies awarded to “best of” winners. would have countered SB9 with a constitutional amendment, noting that the ability of local jurisdictions to determine which projects require review “is a matter of critical importance.” That statewide voter initiative was halted and signature gathering is slated to start again in 2024, to qualify for the ballot that year. In the meantime, SB9 opponents are taking the issue to court. The lawsuit points out that the “constitutional right of cities to zone single family residential districts has been well-settled law for almost 100 years.” The only exception, the suit notes, is when overruling local control resolves a “statewide concern.” The statewide concern that spawned SB9 is access to affordable housing, but the legislation does not contain any affordability covenants, and states the new units can be sold or leased at market rates. SB9 violates the state constitution, the lawsuit claims, because local control over residential land use, zoning, density, locations, and standards are guaranteed under Article XI, Section 5. The legislation also disrupts state housing laws by eliminating single-family zoning without accounting for infrastructure, parks or emergency services. SB9 is undemocratic, it says, because it prohibits due process for neighbors and closes off public accountability of public officials for their actions in approving SB9 projects. Housing guesstimate At the same time cities have been wrestling with potential SB9 impacts, they’ve been drafting their state-mandated “Housing Elements,” essentially blueprints for how a jurisdiction plans to meet its housing needs in future years. The current Housing Element report due to the state covers 2021-29. The state Department of Hous- ing and Community Develop- ment (HCD) allocates the num- ber of dwellings a jurisdiction must provide. This year’s re- gional housing needs assessment (RHNA) was 3,936 for Orange; 296 for Villa Park; 6,782 for Tu- stin; and 10,406 for unincorpo- rated Orange County. A statewide organization, the California Alliance of Local Electeds (CALE), questioned the validity of the number of housing units allocated, and asked the state auditor to investigate them. The auditor’s report, issued March 17, cited problems in the HCD methodology that may have inflated housing unit requirements by hundreds of thousands. The audit found that the data used to portray current housing needs and the number of units levied on municipalities was not sufficiently reviewed and verified. The assessment did not provide sufficient support for the number of households projected; and it did not consider regional factors, or support what are considered “healthy vacancy rates.” Incorrect vacancy rates alone, the audit said, resulted in an overcount of 200,000 units. In all, the audit found that the RHNA requirement of 2.1 million new units “may be contaminated by an overcount of 900,000.” Get it right The audit report recommended the HCD review its data, establish formal review procedures, employ regional comparisons and conduct an analysis of healthy vacancy rates and historical trends. The work must be undertaken between June 2022 and February 2023. “Unless HCD completes this task and corrects its mistakes, there is no justification for punishing cities for failing to meet erroneous RHNA goals,” a CALE spokesperson said. “The legislature should suspend implementation of RHNA until these problems have been resolved.” Both Villa Park and Orange have submitted their Housing El- ement plans to the state and are awaiting certification. "Lawsuit" continued from page 1 Photos by Tony Richards