The Diocese of Orange recently got approval from the La Habra City Council to build a 21-unit apartment home complex on about an acre and a half of old ballfields behind its Our Lady of Guadalupe Catholic Church.
The homes will generate rental income for the church and the diocese. Two units will be set aside for moderate-income households (no more than 110% of the median area income), the others will be market-rate rentals, officials said.
Church representatives said leaders are looking at several properties in the diocese’s inventory to see where underutilized land could be put to better use.
“The Diocese of Orange is committed to serving both its local faithful and the broader community in ways that reflect its values and long-term vision. As part of this commitment, we are carefully evaluating underutilized properties to determine how they might be used to better meet the needs of our communities and support our ministries,” Jarryd Gonzales, spokesperson for the diocese, said. “This includes exploring housing development opportunities, such as the 21-unit project in La Habra.”
The diocese is looking into housing projects in Fullerton, Irvine and Santa Ana, Gonzales said, but added “it’s too soon to comment on any details.”
Douglas Woodward, a consultant for the diocese who answered questions from the La Habra councilmembers on the project at their meeting last week, called the property at Our Lady of Guadalupe “a fallow piece of land, it is not being utilized.”
Though the project is using part of the church’s property, it will not be accessed from La Habra Boulevard, where people enter to visit the church and its elementary school. Access will instead be from the neighborhood to the west, via Walker Street. The long Marian Street feeds the neighborhood from La Habra Boulevard, ending at Walker, which is a short road with a few houses that ends at the church property.
The complex will be a series of six buildings, each two stories, that line a road that loops back to Walker. Each will have their own two parking spaces and a small backyard and there will be a visitor parking lot and a small passive park and spots for gardening.
Adding more homes to the neighborhood that is served by only one road in and out from La Habra Boulevard drew several residents to the council meeting complaining about parking, safety and traffic issues they said the church has already exacerbated over the years.
While councilmembers said they liked the looks of the housing complex the diocese had designed, they were reluctant to approve the project because of the residents’ concerns.
But the project meets all of the city’s requirements and standards, they said, raising concerns the diocese could turn to litigation if the council denied the project.
“What makes this difficult is that we have to balance state law and the concerns of the public and the property rights,” Councilmember Delwin Lampkin said. “It seems there were ongoing issues that exist regardless of this project.”
“These are things that have been brewing,” he added. “I hope that this is a moment for you to see that we have concerns from the residents that go beyond this development. There are concerns the residents felt they have not been heard on.”
Gonzales said “although the project has been approved” the church’s pastor will be planning a meeting with the residents.
The two-story homes will have three bedrooms, an attached garage and the complex will have a Spanish-influenced design with wrought iron lighting, wooden shutters, decorative tile and balconettes.