ANAHEIM : Zone Change Given for 15-Home Project

After months of negotiating, the Orange Avenue Homeowners Assn. and a developer wanting to build on four lots in the neighborhood have settled a dispute over the development’s density.

The City Council unanimously agreed this week to a zoning change that would allow 15 homes to be built on 2 acres at the southeast corner of Orange Avenue and Velare Street, where four houses once stood. That plan was scaled down from a number of earlier proposals, the largest of which was a 90-unit apartment complex.

“I feel that we have a project here that is going to be an enhancement. It’s the first singe-family development in West Anaheim in years,” Councilman William D. Ehrle said.

The developer agreed to include payment for whatever traffic improvements are needed in the area because of the new homes.

West Anaheim residents have been actively lobbying the council to vote against a number of high-density housing projects in the area. They say traffic from the proliferation of apartment complexes has overburdened the streets. Also, the school district has repeatedly told the council that it has no room for the flood of students coming from the new complexes.