Our City's First Planning Commission

In 1978, the original City Council of the newly incorporated City of La Habra Heights appointed a "Site Review Committee," which would later become the Planning Commission. The authors of this article were among its first members, along with three other residents: Margaret Baer, Tom Higgs, and Ron Banco. After years of enduring controversial land developments approved by Los Angeles County, residents wanted to exercise local control over land use and protect our private, rural lifestyle. The Los Angeles County Zoning and Subdivision Code, in particular its grading ordinances, did not take into consideration the special conditions in our hillside community. Because of that ­ and the City's need to adopt officially a General Plan, the City imposed a city-wide building moratorium from 1978 through 1980. The Site Review Committee was charged with revising the grading ordinances, and reviewing all other aspects of the Zoning Code during this period.

After the General Plan was adopted and adjustments to the code were completed, the Site Review Committee began to consider project proposals brought before the City. All five members of our committee were concerned with maintaining the scenic, rural atmosphere of La Habra Heights by minimizing grading, preserving trees, reducing erosion wherever possible, protecting views, and ensuring privacy and seclusion. The actual work of the Site Review Committee was no different than what the present Commission carries out today. In June of 1980, the Improvement Association published a picture of the Committee in the Heights Life, along with an article about our work. The article said in part:

"Since its appointment, the Committee has taken on the added responsibility of reviewing requests for setback modifications, height modifications, ... zone variances and tentative tract and parcel maps. ... At its meetings, the committee receives testimony from proponents and opponents as well as reports from the City Engineer and Planning Staff on the technical aspects of each case."

If a project came before the Committee that did not conform to the grading ordinance and other zoning codes, the applicant was asked to revise it so that it matched our development standards. Occasionally there were projects that would have been particularly damaging to the streams, hillsides, or views in our community. These were unacceptable. During the first two years of our activity, we denied a substantial number of the proposals that came before us. We always felt a strong sense of responsibility to maintain the beautiful environment of La Habra Heights and the property values of our residents.

Even though members of the Site Review Committee came from different professional backgrounds, we always had a shared vision of the community and how it should be developed. The Committee counted among its members civil engineer Pete Pfeiler and architect Ron Banco. Community activists Margaret Baer, Tom Higgs, and Judy Ennis had all been intensely involved in local land use issues for many years prior to incorporation. All of us were dedicated to preventing inappropriate building in the Heights.