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Clashes over Town Center escalate
Police called to sort out disputes over petitioner actions.
By GRANT BINIASZ
YORBA LINDA STAR -
Thursday, January 12, 2006
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Supporters and opponents of the Town Center development clashed repeatedly this past week at shopping centers throughout the city.
Both sides called police to settle the disputes, including one between Jim Horton, a leading opponent of the plan, and Dennis DeSnoo, consultant to all five City Council members and developer Michael Dieden.
Police responded to seven calls from petition sites over the weekend.
Police said the calls came both from petitioners, who said people hired by the developer to pass out fliers were violating their rights, and from store employees, who received customer complaints about petitioners.
Petitioners are "on track" with about 75 percent of the 4,104 signatures needed to force the council either to repeal the ordinance or put it to public vote, Horton said.
The group, which said development allowed under the new zoning threatens the city's "semi-rural" charm, has one more week to gather all the signatures.
They will not be without opposition.
"They thought we were going to passively sit on our hands like we did during the initiative," said Dieden, president of Creative Housing Associates. "They weren't expecting us to defend ourselves, so they cry foul. We're letting people know there's an alternative. If they find that uncomfortable, I'm very sorry."
Dieden, co-managing partner of Old Town Yorba Linda Partners, a group selected by the city to carry out the first phase of the Town Center Master Plan, said that the referendum would ultimately result in higher density zoning and assure a lower quality of future development in the area.
"Certain people seem determined to turn this into a political football and kick it around town," said Dieden. "I'd rather spend time on historic preservation, planning parks and open spaces."
Horton said representatives for Dieden, including DeSnoo, harassed him while collecting signatures in front of Henry's Market at the Valley View Center on Sunday, making comments about his age, family and church attendance.
Horton said the store manager asked him to leave twice.
"I showed him a letter from the property manager saying no one was allowed to petition there," said DeSnoo. "I told him he's making this all about property rights, but he's not respecting the property rights of the owner."
DeSnoo said he never made any personal remarks against Horton or his family.
Police arrived after receiving a call from a store employee.
"At that point, I was going to stay until they carried me off in cuffs," said Horton. "In my mind, I decided this was a watershed day and I wasn't going to be bullied by those people."
Sgt. Darrin Devereux, spokesman for the Brea Police Department, said officers are instructed to uphold the rights of petitioners as long as they operate within the limits established by property owners.
Police left after advising representatives for the developer and store employees.
In similar cases, the California Supreme Court has allowed petitioning in the public areas of private malls, but ruled that storefronts do not necessarily qualify as public spaces.
Horton continued collecting signatures at the center until crowds thinned later that afternoon.
Some residents are simply tired of the debate. Marjorie Moore, who signed the right-to-vote initiative in the summer, but has not yet signed the referendum, said she feels harassed by all the mail and phone calls she has received about the referendum.
"It bothers me because they've sent so much it seems like they're panicking," said Moore. "And that bothers me because I worry something is wrong."
While Yorba Linda Residents for Responsible Redevelopment collect the final signatures for the referendum, the next battle is set to take place in court.
Attorneys for City Clerk Kathie Mendoza filed papers Thursday asking an Orange County Superior Court judge to invalidate the group's right-to-vote initiative and remove it from the June 6 ballot.
In the summer, the group gathered 8,647 signatures for the initiative that seeks to give voters final say over major land developments that require changes to key city planning documents.
Mendoza asserts that the initiative petition was flawed because it did not include the full text of the city's general plan and other documents affected by its passage. She said a decision is needed by March 10, because of printing deadlines for the June 6 ballot pamphlet.
"From our perspective, the entire process is unseemly," said Dieden. "This is the last thing we wanted in Yorba Linda."
The center of contention is just how much development should be brought to the town's sleepy downtown area.
Opponents say the building limits approved by the City Council Dec. 20 are too high, especially the housing limit of 501 units.
The regulations would allow for up to 384 new housing units in a 60-acre area.
The area now has 117 homes either standing or under construction.
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