Comparing
councils – and densities – of early years,
today
Jim Drummond Political Perspectives
Yorba Linda Star - April 14, 2005 -
Viewpoints Section
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Excerpts:
When the next history of Yorba Linda is written, two City
Councils will receive prominent attention because of actions
they took to shape the community for many years into the
future.
The city’s two key governing bodies will include the second council, which
was elected in 1970, and the current council, whose members were first selected
in the 2000 and 2002 elections.
A three-man majority elected to the second council is largely
responsible for establishing the city’s low-density environment. People who moved to Yorba
Linda within the last 30 years to enjoy the city’s semi-rural lifestyle
can thank Rudy Castro, George Machado and Hank Wedaa.
The trio worked to develop the city’s low-density General Plan, approved
by voters in 1972. That balloting also added Dale Chaput and Carolyn Ewing to
form a unanimous low-density council.
A plaque recognizing the late Machado as "the driving force behind our city’s
General Plan, designed for the citizens, so Yorba Linda would always be a good
place to live" was placed at a trail rest stop near the southeast corner
of Imperial Highway and Casa Loma Avenue in 1976.
As councils added more land to the once-tiny city, they made
some compromises regarding density. But most of the annexed
areas to the east and north maintained low-density levels.
A larger city drew more developer interest, and municipal
elections increasingly were dominated by candidates whose
growth policies brought in big donations from builders
and their many allies.
Today’s council members include Allen Castellano, Mike Duvall, Ken Ryan
and Jim Winder, first elected in 2000, and Keri Wilson, elected as Ryan’s
running-mate in 2002. They’re altering the city’s long-standing,
low-density zoning – especially in the town’s western and central
regions.
With little new land to develop, the council’s attention has turned to
urbanizing the downtown area and adding high-density projects to many west-end
parcels.
The Town Center plan now involves high-density housing, huge
new commercial developments and "repositioning" current businesses, as well as proposals to needlessly
relocate the Fire Station, City Hall and maybe even the Yorba Linda Library.
Council members promise to preserve historic structures.
Yet they don’t realize Yorba Linda’s true heritage isn’t only
the old buildings but also the low-density lifestyle long enjoyed by residents.
The council visualizes a more urban environment as economically beneficial for
the long-term.
Council members would better serve Yorba Linda’s heritage by abandoning
their eminent-domain authority and limiting downtown density levels to the city’s
high-end range of 15 units per acre. Such actions would build genuine, wide-spread
community support for their Town Center plans.
Jim Drummond
is a longtime Yorba Linda resident.
JIM DRUMMOND POLITICAL PERSPECTIVES
Yorba Linda Star - April 14, 2005
- Viewpoints Section
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here for complete text - requires
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