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Drummond Tackles Town Center
This City engagement to "proposed" Town Center
developer Creative Housing Associates is beginning to sound
more like a Vegas wedding. Here's Jim Drummond's take from
the January 20 "Star."
Ed Rakochy
Yorba Linda Historical Conservancy
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Jan. 20, 2005
Still time to refine Town Center project
Nothing appears likely to impede progress on the
city's Town Center proposals:
Mr. Drummond's column appears every other week
in the
Viewpoints Section of the Yorba Linda
Star - Requires Registration
Click here for the complete article - Requires
Registration
REALITY CHECK – For all practical purposes, the currently
visualized Old Towne redevelopment project – including
the addition of high-density homes, condominiums and apartments
throughout the city's western and central areas – is
a done deal.
The economic viability of the massive undertaking requires
placing hundreds of new residents within walking distance
of a proposed 100,000 square-feet of new retail space and
the "repositioning" of some of the area's current
commercial establishments.
The city has invested too much time and money – and
purchased too many downtown business and residential properties – to
alter the concept at this date. Only a Supreme Court decision
changing redevelopment law could doom the current "visualizations."
Creative Housing Associates, the city's redevelopment partner,
will conduct some public outreach meetings before submitting
a conceptual plan for implementation. Residents might be
able to influence some project details if they attend and
voice strong concerns.
For example, plans mention an art-house theater with flexible
opportunity for performing arts. Most local arts and culture
advocates want the reverse – an actual performing arts
facility that could also be used as a small community movie
house.
Citizens seeking changes in the current plans need to gather
their constituencies, attend the meetings and make their
desires known to project planners and council members. And
importantly, residents should not retreat when told to "keep
an open mind" or "trust us."
EXPERIENCED VOICE –
Hank Wedaa, who was elected to the second City Council as
a low-density candidate and served all but two years between
1970 and 2000, recently e-mailed me some interesting comments
regarding the Town Center project.
"I have always believed that an informed community
would usually support the City Council if the project concerned
was fundamentally a good project," Wedaa wrote.
While noting his "mixed emotions" regarding the
project and the Imperial Highway pedestrian bridge, he added, "I
am aware of how really difficult it is to effectively communicate
with the large number of people who live and work in Yorba
Linda."
"On a project of this magnitude, involving so many
millions of dollars, the council should make special efforts
to inform the community of its plans on a daily basis," he
wrote.
Wedaa noted, "We need community support to make it
a success. Let's not build another downtown Brea that is
not supported by the residents – during the week it's
a ghost town. Why will our redeveloped Main Street be a success,
and why do we want it?"
A FINAL NOTE – A Yorba Linda City Council resolution
supporting Anaheim in the Angels name-change controversy
didn't sway team owner Arte Moreno from adopting a new moniker – the
fourth in 44 years – for his one-time world-champion
baseball club.
The little-noted action came Dec. 7, when the council unanimously "resolved
that the city of Yorba Linda expresses its support for the
City of Anaheim in its efforts to ensure that the team name
remains Anaheim Angels."
The resolution was requested by Anaheim Mayor Curt Pringle
and adopted as part of Yorba Linda's new Good Neighbor Policy
with Anaheim.
Jim Drummond is a longtime Yorba Linda resident.
Mr. Drummonds column appears every other week
in the
Viewpoints Section of the Yorba Linda
Star - Requires Registration
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