This is an aerial view of the Lynch Property development just west of lower Walnut St.
What you see here is called mass grading. Rather than grade that amount of area for a home site, the whole 21 acre site was graded at once.
Our General Plan calls for minimizing alteration of the natural terrain. Here you can see that the natural terrain itself has been minimized.
The Specific Plan for this development called for the grading to be done so that it looked natural. In 1999, the City Council allowed it to be developed with Mass Grading
A contrast in natural looking grading and artificial looking grading can be seen if you look into the distance to the Westridge development in La Habra. The golf course area looks very natural, with rolling, varied hills and terrain. This was all man-made. This is what the Lynch development was supposed to look like. If you look above it, you see the unnatural fill pads and step pads. This is what did happen at the Lynch property.
Residents need to be vigilant and vocal to prevent these things from happening again.
This is another view of the Lynch Property development off Walnut St. Outlined in red are the pads. Together they look like stair steps. This is why this type of grading is called step pads. It is prohibited in our General Plan, yet was allowed to be done at this development.
How does this happen, you ask?
Two reasons -
Ordinances or agreements are not enforced. The Lynch Property developer was able to do much of that, even though different than their Specific Plan and Conditions of Approval, because no one is enforcing them.
Secondly
Even though we have rules and ordinances for what is supposed to be done, there are Standards Modifications which can be granted by the Planning Commission.
"Standards" are the rules. "Modifications" are variances to those rules. We need to have the ability to grant these because there are cases where adjustments need to be made.
However, there are required "findings" before a Standards Modification can be granted, which often are overlooked.
Our rules require that we have minimum 35 foot setbacks from the street and minimum 25 foot setbacks from side and rear property lines. It is these large setbacks that help create the rural atmosphere, give us privacy from neighbors, make it so our neighbor's activities are not a bother to us, and enhance our property values.
Recent Planning Commission Decisions bring this distinction to light and shows how our rural environment can and is being lost one step at a time.
If the Planning Commission doesn't hear opposition to their decisions they are going to keep making them this way. Just because it is not you being affected this time, doesn't mean it cannot be you next.
The Planning Commission meets the 4th Tuesday each month at City Hall.