Voice of OC (https://voiceofoc.org/tag/development/)
On the same night, Santa Ana council members will revisit a much-contested apartments project at 2525 N. Main St. and a tower that’s been in development for more than a decade at One Broadway Plaza.
Council members Vicente Sarmiento and David Penaloza have flipped on the project, forming a clear majority against the controversial apartments as a decision makes its way to council members’ desks on whether or not to turn the project over to voters – or rescind their original vote entirely.
The new protections add to existing emergency measures the city enacted back in March, banning utility shutoffs and the eviction of tenants over an inability to pay rent due to the financial constraints of the health crisis.
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.
While city officials have touted the Park as the most transparent project of its type, questions still remain about how public money is being spent to develop Orange County’s largest public works project.
Irvine’s city council members tonight will vote to consider whether to establish a new tax district in the Orange County Great Park, pushing the total amount of potential bonds to over one billion dollars if approved by the council.
Newport Beach officials this week joined cities across Orange County who have passed resolutions opposing mandated regional quotas that significantly expand the city’s affordable housing goals for the next ten years.
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.
After nearly two hours of public comment, City Councilmembers postponed their vote on a controversial 58-condo development to Jan. 28.
Council members at the beginning of the meeting unanimously agreed to drop discussion on the deal for now, hours after Los Angeles County Superior Court Judge Mary Strobel ruled the Council could vote to approve the agreement but couldn’t finalize it before the end of the year.