ORANGE : Old Towne Zoning Requests Differ

It’s an old rivalry in Old Towne: preservationists versus other property owners who want to encourage development in their neighborhood.

In separate requests last week, two groups of residents in the southern section of the mile-square Old Towne district, an area admired for its small-town charm and collection of pre-1940 homes, asked that the City Council hold hearings on development there. One group wants to limit building in the neighborhood while the other seeks higher density development.

Residents in the southwest quadrant of Old Towne have formed a group called the Committee of 300, made up of preservationists who want their neighborhood “downzoned” to allow only two units per average size lot of about 6,000 square feet. Currently, much of the area is zoned to allow three or four units per lot.

Members of the committee say zoning in Old Towne is a political hot potato that council members have tried to avoid. Anne Siebert, a representative of the committee, complained this week that the council has been unresponsive to pleas from her neighbors to limit development and save the historic atmosphere of the area.

“We represent a sizable bloc of voters in Orange, and we want some action,” Siebert said.

At Siebert’s request, council members voted to hold a public hearing on zoning in the southwest quadrant on Feb. 25.

Moments later, Ralph Zehner, a resident of Old Towne’s southeast section, asked the council allow higher density on the block bounded by Culver and La Veta avenues and Cambridge and Shaffer streets.

Currently those lots, which range from a half to 2 1/2 acres, are zoned to allow only one unit. The block is bordered on three sides by an area that allows higher density but is next to a neighborhood that restricts development to one unit per lot.

Zehner said his neighbors want to develop their property for residential use as an investment.

“People said they wanted to build on it for retirement, and now they’re at retirement,” he said.

A public hearing on zoning in the southeast quadrant will be held March 10.

Council members weren’t surprised by the opposing requests.

“That’s what makes Orange such an interesting place to live,” Councilman William G. Steiner said. “But it makes it difficult to strike a balance in a city with all this diversity of opinion.”