Foothills Sentry June 2023

Foothills Sentry Page 6 June 2023 Family. Friends. Community. We’re all in this together. State Farm, Bloomington, IL 1801073 Ron Esparza, Agent Insurance Lic#: 0C79663 827 S. Tustin Ave Orange, CA 92866 Bus: 714-505-3400 ron@ronesparza.com (714) 832-0750 462 El Camino Real • Tustin, CA 92780 WWW.IVYS.COM IMPROVE HEALTH NATURALLY! • Iridology Consults • Wellness Tips • Awesome Lunches • Organic Cofee & Tea Old Town Tustin $10.00 OFF* Iridology Consult *NEW CUSTOMERS ONLY WELLNESS SEMINARS 2 ND SATURDAY OF EACH MONTH Documents placed in a time capsule in 1905 and 1953 included news- papers, Orange High School ephemera, photos and a business card from R.J. Noble, still doing business in the City of Orange today. Scott Harvey gently lifts docu- ments folded for posterity in 1905. Number of permitted STRs in Orange won’t change—for now The Orange City Council punt- ed a proposal to increase the num- ber of licensed Short Term Rent- als (STRs), pending a review of how the in-place regulations are working. There are currently 125 per- mitted STRs in the city, with a waiting list of another 125. The council was asked to increase the number of permitted units to 200 to allow more property owners to participate. The permitted STRs are required to pay Transient Oc- cupancy Tax to the city, generat- ing $500,000 per year. An addi- tional 75 units would add another $300,000 to the coffers. There is, however, consider- able pushback from residents and councilmembers themselves. While the permitting program was intended to allow responsible STR landlords to operate and provide regulations to reduce im- pacts on neighbors, the city’s un- derstaffed code enforcement de- partment has been unable to keep up with complaints generated by “problem properties.” Hiding in plain sight While the city can track the 125 permitted units, it doesn’t know how many illegal units are oper- ating. Councilman Jon Dumitru reported that he found a number of illegal STRs listed on vacation home websites. The city has been trying to work with those provid- ers to delist unpermitted proper- ties, with limited success. The city claims it has issued only 10 code violations since the permit program started 18 months ago, and that STR owners have been responsive to neighbors’ complaints. Councilwoman Ari- anna Barrios disagreed with that assessment. “I get complaints all the time,” she said. “The program isn’t running well. We should run it the way it’s supposed to be run before we expand it. We should table this for two weeks.” City Manager Tom Kisela ad- mitted, “We’ve done a bad job of it. We have a program in place that we don’t have the ability to enforce. Maybe we should pro- vide a report on how the program is running before we increase it.” “Two weeks isn’t enough,” Dumitru advised. “More like six months. Granted, it is of benefit to the city, but we have to get our house in order first.” The Orange we want? A number of residents spoke about the impacts STRs imposed on their neighborhoods. From all- night parties, drug deals, litter, the commercialization of residential communities, to the decrease in home values. “Orange has always been a special place, a gentle fam- ily community,” Robert Boice told the council. “STRs change the atmosphere. When you study the program, include what you want Orange to be.” “Let’s assess this program,” former councilman Mike Alvarez suggested. “There are stakehold- ers in this. Not just STRs, but homeowners who live around them. We need to get all the stake- holders in the same room and find out why this is dysfunctional; hold a workshop or community forum and determine whether this is good or bad.” The council agreed to postpone the decision to permit an addi- tional 75 STRs until the current program, including the prolifera- tion of illegal units, could he thor- oughly assessed. “It seems like the current li- censees are doing a good job,” Mayor Dan Slater noted. “But it’s a learning curve. I support the council direction to postpone the expansion.” Kisela asked for a 60-day win- dow to produce a report. The vote was 7-0. El Modena High School’s Ben Hepner (Class of 2019) gradu- ated from the United States Air Force Academy as a 2nd Lieuten- ant, with a major in data science and an emphasis in Geospatial Sciences on June 1. President Joe Biden gave the commencement address. At the Academy, Hep- ner has been an Intercollegiate Team Captain and performed as the school mascot. He will be continuing his education at the Air Force Institute of Technology Grad School. OUSD trustee recall notices served Orange Unified School District Trustees Madison Miner and Rick Ledesma have been served no- tices of intent to recall. The recall was launched by parents alarmed by their “closed door” decisions, lack of transparency, and waste of district funds. The recall commit- tee is currently working through the petition approval process with the Registrar of Voters office. OUSD opens long-lost OHS time capsule As Orange High School build- ing 100-200 was being demol- ished to make way for a new ad- ministration and classroom facil- ity, a jackhammer hit something metal embedded in the concrete foundation. It was a time capsule that no one knew was there. It had been placed into the cornerstone of the original Orange High building in 1905. The cornerstone bearing the time capsule had been moved to the new administration build- ing when it was constructed in 1953. Documents from that year were added to the 1905 collec- tion, and the small copper box soldered shut. And then forgotten. The capsule’s accidental redis- covery was a complete surprise. It was opened for the first time by OUSD Senior Executive Director Scott Harvey, April 27, as local historians, Orange students and community members looked on. The documents have been photocopied and shared with the Orange Historical Society. The originals will be returned to the time capsule, material from 2023- 24 added, and the box entombed under the staircase in the new building next year.