Hortons take lead in low-density drive
Jim Drummond - Political Perspectives
Yorba Linda Star - September 15, 2005 - Viewpoints
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Anyone who believes the old canard “You
can’t fight City Hall” doesn’t know Jim and
Jan Horton, two leaders in this city’s grass-roots responsible
redevelopment movement.
The mild-mannered but persistent pair
have already achieved some success in helping scale down
density proposals for the Town Center project.
Now they’re asking Yorba Lindans
to support the so-called Right to Vote citizens initiative
in an upcoming special election.
The initiative is similar to one Newport
Beach voters approved in 2000. It would require a public
vote on major land-use decisions throughout the city, not just the
Old Town area.
Of course, the Hortons face a tough
fight.
City Hall is populated with politicians
whose election-year campaign accounts bulge with thousands
of dollars donated by developers and other out-of-town individuals
and businesses associated with the building industry.
And the same professional political
consultant who helped elect all five sitting City Council
members now works as an adviser to Old Town developer Michael Dieden.
But the Hortons believe Yorba Linda
should retain the qualities that initially attracted us all
to this town: low density, less traffic congestion and a
safe place to raise our families.
Despite their full-time careers – Jim
manages a 55-year-old family business and Jan is an occupational
therapist – they speak at most City Council and Redevelopment
Agency meetings.
Jim maintains the instructive www.ylforum.org Web
site, and both helped organize the effective Yorba Linda
Residents for Responsible Redevelopment.
The Hortons began questioning Old Town
area density numbers when they returned from their March
2004 honeymoon and asked a city official about plans for the 4.7-acre
former strawberry field on Lakeview Avenue, just west of
their Cedar Avenue home.
Assistant City Manager David Gruchow
e-mailed them back the next day, noting the city’s Redevelopment
Agency bought the land “for an affordable housing project” and
the Town Center Master Plan envisioned “about 125 rental
family units on this site.”
Now – after months of meetings
and comments from dozens of low-density advocates – developer
Dieden’s new plan is to build 13 houses and 40 to 50
market-rate multifamily homes at the location, a revision Dieden
said resulted from “neighborhood input.”
Naturally, the Hortons credit others,
saying, “The changes are the result of the actions
and voices of many people, including some who have been faithfully
expressing their concerns for years.”
That’s certainly true, but residents
owe special thanks to the Hortons for their leadership in the
endless fight to preserve Yorba Linda’s low-density
heritage.
A FINAL NOTE – Former five-time
Mayor Hank Wedaa called to say he appreciated a recent column
spotlighting Councilman Mike Duvall’s state Assembly
campaign.
Wedaa said, “It’ll be refreshing
to have an honest man in the California Legislature.”
Wedaa, a low-density leader during
his record 28 years on the City Council, also said he expects
the Right to Vote initiative to carry, despite “lots
of opposition.” He thinks developers “will spend
big to defeat it, because the idea might spread to other
cities.”
And Sharlene Dunn, an active Fairmont
Hill Community Association member, e-mailed: “I’ve
lived in this area since 1966, raised four children and have
watched our gracious living turn to greed on the part of
developers and unconcern on the part of a non-responsive
City Council.”
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