Fountain Valley is moving ahead with a major housing project that will bring more than 600 new homes to the city — including 83 affordable apartments for seniors — after months of discussion among city leaders and residents over density, safety and state housing mandates.
It comes as cities across the county are grappling with state-mandated housing numbers and shrinking local control over housing developments.
The Euclid and Heil Residential Project, planned on the site of a former strawberry field near Mile Square Regional Park, will add a mix of market-rate apartments, senior affordable housing, townhomes and triplexes across an 18-acre site.
On Oct. 23, council members approved the affordable housing agreement component of the project in a 4-0 vote. That approval included a density bonus that allowed the project to grow to a total of 606 units. Councilmember Jim Cunneen was absent.
The city’s planning commission originally approved the project on June 25, and city council members upheld that decision after not voting to overturn it during a July 7 special meeting.
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The development — proposed by Euclid & Heil FV Owner, LLC — has been in the works for several years.
It’s expected to include 304 market-rate apartments in a five-story building, 83 affordable units for seniors and more than 200 townhomes and triplexes across the site.
The affordable units, roughly 15% of the total project, will be reserved for low-income seniors under a 55-year affordability agreement.
Principal Planner Steve Ayers told planning commissioners that the project complies with the general plan and the city’s inclusionary housing program, which requires affordable housing in new developments to help meet the city’s Regional Housing Needs Allocation of 4,839 units set by the state.
Under California’s 2025 income limits, a low-income family of four in Orange County earns below $135,350 a year.
A two-person household — a common setup of seniors — is considered low income if they bring in less than $108,300 a year.
Ayers emphasized that the project fulfills the city’s commitment to state housing requirements, adding that it provides more parking than required, with 1,083 total spaces — roughly 265 above the state minimum.
Planning commissioners voted 4-0 in June to approve the project’s entitlements, including the precise plan, conditional use permit and tentative parcel map.
In July, the city council held a special meeting to consider appealing the planning commission’s approval — a move that could have blocked or delayed the project.
Instead, the council did not approve the appeal, allowing the planning commission’s approval to stand.
Still, the discussion revealed some lingering frustration among council members, particularly regarding safety and accessibility in the senior housing component and concerns regarding local control.
Mayor Ted Bui raised concerns about the single elevator planned for the five-story building that’s expected to include units for seniors on all floors.
“What happens if it breaks down?” Bui said during the July meeting. “How are people with mobility challenges supposed to evacuate in an emergency? A fire, a gas leak, even a power outage?”
He urged the developer to consider a second elevator or additional emergency planning, arguing that while the state limits local control over housing projects, cities should still push for “the best project for Fountain Valley.”
“There are a lot of regulations on cities like ours that come straight from the state,” Bui said. “But that doesn’t mean we can’t do better. We still have a responsibility to make sure projects are safe and serve our residents the best they can.”
During that meeting, Councilmember Glenn Grandis referenced the city’s state-mandated housing goals and how creating those units will inevitably affect traffic and parking.
He spoke to residents at the meeting, emphasizing that the council’s hands are largely tied due to state-mandated housing numbers.
“If you come up here and say, ‘We don’t like traffic.’ We don’t like traffic either,” he said at the meeting. “Just understand there’s going to be more traffic. This is something we have to deal with.”
He said it’s not worth it to fight the state to oppose these kinds of housing developments, like Huntington Beach officials have tried to do in the past.
“Us fighting the state and spending hundreds of thousands, if not millions, of dollars to go fight it makes no sense for the city of Fountain Valley,” Grandis said. “That would be a poor use of our funds, and quite candidly, we would lose.”
[Read: Is Huntington Beach on Track to Lose Control of New Housing Developments?]
Officials emphasized that while the city cannot block compliant projects, they will continue advocating for local safety standards and design quality.
City officials also said the Euclid and Heil project is one of 11 opportunity sites identified in the general plan to help meet the city’s state-mandated housing goals.
While some residents voiced concerns about traffic, height and density, city planners said this project exemplifies how Fountain Valley is adapting to California’s push for more housing.
Construction timelines have not been announced, but city officials expect building permits to follow once all legal and financial agreements are finalized.