Voice of OC (https://voiceofoc.org/tag/dale-helvig/)
What happens today could set the stage for the November general election, and impact the future of Santa Ana politics. If voters want Iglesias out, they’ll have three different replacement candidates, all backed by different people, to choose from.
City Council members on Tuesday night voted to repeal their initial approval of 2525, a much-contested apartments project in north Santa Ana, and authorized a request by developer Mike Harrah to add up to 415 apartments to his tower at One Broadway Plaza, which has been in development for at least 15 years.
County elections officials have certified a referendum petition by residents who oppose and live next to the 2525 apartments project, a 256-unit development by developer Ryan Ogulnick that got the City Council’s final approval on January 23. At the time, residents opposed to the project had warned they would challenge it with a referendum petition, which they filed with the city in late February.
Council members initially approved the project last year, despite a push by some against the much-disputed 2525 N. Main St. apartments in the city’s north-end Park Santiago neighborhood.
Today’s vote by the City Council will come after more than two years of protests and uncertainty among city officials and residents surrounding the project, which prompted numerous revisions to it by developer Ryan Ogulnick and his team at Vineyards Development Corp.
Long time Santa Ana resident Dale Helvig argues that the developer of 2525 Main Street must seek a zone change in order to build high density units. Residents of the North Santa Ana Preservation Alliance have been protesting this development.