Tired of Being ‘Bad Guys’ in Whittier : Builders Organize to Protect Their Interests

About 20 apartment builders, who say they are tired of being cast as the bad guys in Whittier’s zoning controversy, have organized to defend the interests of developers.

The builders--whose projects pending in Whittier are worth an estimated $5 million--believe the City Council’s movement toward lower-density residential zoning will harm the earthquake-devastated Uptown business district’s economic recovery.

“It takes density to bring in the people to support the Uptown merchants,” said developer Richard Villa, chairman of the new group. “The council is supportive of commercial development, but not the residential development that businesses need to survive.”

The City Council has hired a consultant to study whether the city’s zoning laws and General Plan should be revised. Zoning specifies density, such as how many apartments can be built on one lot, while the General Plan is an overall blueprint for commercial and residential development. The council ordered the study because the zoning in some parts of Whittier is not consistent with the General Plan.

First Local Chapter

To assure that the interests of developers are represented, Villa this month organized the Whittier chapter of the Southern California Builders Assn.--the first local chapter of the 350-member group of licensed contractors, association Executive Vice President David Erlandson said. He said the association favors orderly growth instead of slow growth.

Because of the competitive nature of the development business, Erlandson said, it is sometimes difficult to get builders to realize they face common goals and problems. Last October’s earthquake and subsequent zoning debate provided the catalyst in Whittier, he said.

Whittier homeowners, angry that apartments are replacing some homes demolished because of earthquake damage, claim that new apartments ruin single-family neighborhoods and devalue homes. The activists have packed City Council and Planning Commission meetings for weeks, arguing that the city acted illegally in allowing apartments to be built in areas where the zoning is inconsistent with the General Plan.

Responding to the homeowners, the City Council decided that only developers who had been issued building permits as of June 14 had the right to proceed. Other developers must obtain a conditional-use permit, which requires the city planning staff to study the environmental impact of a project and approval of the Planning Commission before a building permit can be issued.

Silent at Meetings

Developers have been largely silent at City Council meetings, except when called on by city officials to answer questions about development projects. Villa said developers have been reluctant to address the council for fear that it would further endanger their projects.

“If you’re a small business person, how can you conduct business in this kind of atmosphere?” said Charles Lawrence, a Whittier developer who has appealed to the City Council to approve his apartment project on Dorland Street. “We were forced to band together.”

Villa says the group understands that zoning changes are a fact of life in the development business. However, Villa says it was unfair of the council to place special restrictions on apartment developers after construction plans had been accepted by the city Planning Department. It is also unfair, he said, for the city to accept building plans with knowledge that the General Plan study may result in zoning changes.

“(The council) would rather pacify the few individuals who want the growth stopped rather than deal equitably with the situation,” Villa said. “You don’t allow (developers) to proceed and then meat-ax the process.”

A Lobbying Channel

The new group, he said, will provide a channel for the developers to lobby the council and convince the community that new development can be good for Whittier.

“I don’t think the general population in Whittier wants to downzone,” Villa said. “It’s just a few people.”

In addition to linking the survival of Uptown to the density of the surrounding residential areas, Villa said, the group wants the city to guarantee developers the right to proceed if they have submitted plans to City Hall. If the city decides to change the zoning, owners of property zoned for high density should be given 30 to 60 days to submit building plans before the zoning is changed, he said.

“It’s only fair to allow whatever was put in motion to be built,” Villa said.

The Whittier chapter members paid their $550 in annual association dues this week, and about half the group also plans to join the Whittier Area Chamber of Commerce, Villa said.

“Unifying is the only way we’re going to survive,” he said.