FULLERTON : Contested Plan for 111 Homes Denied

Residents concerned about increased traffic on Placentia Avenue and a new subdivision near their homes got a reprieve from the City Council.

The council rejected a proposal to build 111 homes on the northwest corner of Placentia Avenue and Rolling Hills Drive. The plan also called for Placentia Avenue to be extended north to Imperial Highway, which area residents feared would bring more commuter traffic past their homes.

The council majority said the subdivision proposed by Unocal Land & Development Co. would not fit into the city’s plan to develop the area into a “greenbelt.”

“We’re extremely pleased,” said John McNaughton, 47, a resident who helped lead a group of about 150 neighbors in lobbying against the proposal. “It says they have to abide by the . . . rules of the city.”

The council vote was 4 to 1, with Councilman Richard C. Ackerman dissenting. The 111 homes are not that many more than would be allowed with the greenbelt plan, he said.

That plan allows Unocal to build up to 90 units on the 31 acres, said Paul Dudley, Fullerton’s director of development services.

The residents’ victory Wednesday may be temporary. Council members also indicated that they might still allow Placentia Avenue to link with Imperial Highway once a project is approved for the land. That extension probably will be part of any future project submitted by Unocal, Dudley said.

The road extension has been on the city’s master plan of roads since 1961. It also would help ease traffic for residents living along neighboring Kraemer Boulevard and Associated Road, Councilman Don Bankhead said.

If the road must be built, McNaughton said, it should wind through the future residential development to discourage its use as a thoroughfare.

Unocal hasn’t decided yet how it will react to the council’s rejection of its 111-home project, company spokesman Barry Lane said.