The Brea City Council’s April 1 meeting included a public hearing for two large housing projects.
It didn’t end until nearly midnight. Both projects were approved 4-0.
Councilmember Steven Vargas had to recuse himself from the public hearing and the vote for both projects because his home is 653-feet from the proposed location. According to the rules, if one’s residence is within 500 to 1,000 feet of a proposed project they must sit out the discussion.
There’s been a lot of attention to both the 129 Brea Plaza Living Apartments, to be constructed above a two-story parking structure in the Brea Plaza Center, and the Villas at Greenbriar project next door to it. That project would transform the former Mercury Insurance building and parking structure into 178 for-sale attached homes, plus one detached home. The project’s access is Greenbriar Lane, across the street from Glenbrook homes.
At previous City Council and Planning Commission meetings, mainly Glenbrook residents have expressed concerns about cut-through traffic using their neighborhoods and the new residents, with only one- and two-car garages, parking extra vehicles on their streets.
It seems with every housing project that comes into town, traffic is the No. 1 concern for most Breans, but often in vain.
Remember when the Brea Community Hospital and several doctor offices at Central and Tamarack avenues were demolished to make way for the Central Park Village with apartments, condominiums and commercial spaces? People raised fits over all the traffic they thought those projects would create.
Guess what? There is less traffic now than before, no sirens, and good ingress and egress for the entire development.
“Site Drive continues from Central Avenue through the development to provide access to Central Avenue and Tamarak Avenue,” said Jason Killebrew, assistance city manager. He added that there is also a driveway that connects Central Avenue to Ellis Drive. No backed-up traffic from that development.
I think the Brea Plaza Apartments project is fine and would fill in the area where the theatre once was, wrapping around the west side of the shopping center, behind Buca di Beppo.
It would be walking distance to Mother’s Market, several restaurants and a ton of shops and services in the shopping center. Plus resurfacing the parking areas will add more parking spaces, according to BOSC the center’s owners.
The Greenbrier project has other challenges, mainly with parking. The 179 homes would have only one and two-car garages. There are no driveways and you’ll be required to park your vehicles inside the garage. That means no turning the garage into a home gym, office, man cave or fill it up with all the stuff you should have tossed out or donated years ago.
There will be guest parking. But will it be enough? Greenbriar Lane residents fear it will not.
I have several neighbors with two or three-car garages who park no cars in them, but have ample driveway space for their vehicles.
Killebrew noted that this “for sale” residential development would have an HOA with Covenants, Conditions and Restrictions (CC&Rs) that will explain the restrictions on garage use and be enforced by the HOA. Potential buyers will be fully informed of the strict garage rules.
“Those CC&Rs would be recorded on title and presented and agreed to by every potential homeowner during the escrow process,” he said.
Surprisingly, at the April 1 City Council meeting, the majority of the speakers at the public hearing were in favor of the projects, but some folks emailed the city their opposition.
Both projects were set to be on the City Council’s April 15 agenda for a second reading. Usually, the second reading is included in the Consent Items near the end of the meeting and voted on with a single vote, unless one or more council members wants to have further discussion about it.
Terri Daxon is a freelance writer and the owner of Daxon Marketing Communications. She gives her perspective on Brea issues twice a month. Contact her at daxoncomm@gmail.com.