Council to consider effects of Humanity

Deirdre Newman

Habitat for Humanity representatives will try to coax City Council

approval tonight of a low-income housing project in the College Park

neighborhood despite resident opposition and the Planning

Commission’s denial of the project.

The council will consider the eight-house development for a site

behind Harbor Center that the commission decided was appropriate for

residential use -- but not for the Habitat project. The majority of

commissioners denied the project because they believed the site was

either unsuitable for residential development or Habitat’s proposal

was too dense.

College Park residents oppose the project for a variety of

reasons, including fears that it will add to the already overcrowded

parking situation in their neighborhood and that the project is too

dense.

That leaves Mark Korando, vice president of site development of

Habitat for Humanity Orange County and a former city planning

commissioner, in the tough position of trying to show why Habitat

would be the perfect fit for the site.

“The Planning Commission, which is five people, has a viewpoint,

and the City Council may have a different viewpoint,” Korando said.

“We’re hoping that reason prevails.”

Habitat for Humanity is a Christian housing ministry that builds

and sells affordable houses and loans money for the mortgages to

low-income families. Its College Park proposal includes eight homes

with two-car garages, which must be used for parking on a 1.5-acre,

land-locked site comprising two properties -- one on Harbor Boulevard

and one on West Wilson Street.

But the proposed project does not fit the site, said Steve Fox,

who has lived on Wake Forest Drive, directly east of the project, for

the past 12 years.

“To me, it’s like a round peg trying to fit into a square hole,”

Fox said. “We’re not saying no. We just want [Habitat] to listen to

us here. Let’s get a good compromise.

Habitat has already compromised as much as it can, Korando said.

Its original plan was for 12 houses, but the organization reduced

that to eight, Korando said.

It can’t go any lower, because fewer than eight homes would not

provide an adequate financial return on the donation of the land to

ICI Development, which owns the properties and would donate them for

the Habitat for Humanity project, president Scott Bell said in

September.

The homes were designed to fit in with the neighborhood, Korando

said.

“The size of the original College Park homes is very close to the

size of the homes we’re proposing to build,” Korando said. “Those

were good starter homes for families, and [ours] are good starter

homes for families.”

Most of the site has served as a buffer between the shopping

center and the neighboring College Park residential community.

The site is walled in on three sides, which includes two 14-foot

portions -- one behind Home Depot and another on the east side, at

the end of Wake Forest Drive, between the site and some homes.

The eastern portion of the wall was required by a 1999 settlement

agreement among the city, ICI Development and neighbors to lessen

noise from Home Depot. But noise issues continue to plague the

neighborhood, residents have said, even though an acoustical engineer

found that noise from the mega-store wasn’t significant.

The eastern portion of the wall would have to be opened to allow

access to the site, which was a major sticking point with neighbors,

even though the same engineer found that opening a portion of it

would not cause significant noise. The wall would have to be opened

for any residential use on the site to allow access to the homes.

The project design is compatible with the character of the College

Park neighborhood and complies with the city’s residential design

guidelines, planning staff members said. It also exceeds the required

parking standards, as single-family homes usually require four

parking spaces, and Habitat’s homes will require five, Korando said.

The council will now have to weigh the benefit of adding more

affordable housing to the city’s stock with opposition from residents

and the Planning Commission, which feel the negatives outweigh the

positives.

“The Planning Commission has made a recommendation, and we take

those recommendations very seriously,” Mayor Gary Monahan said.