The General Plan of La Habra Heights

3. Minimize alteration of the natural terrain.

Preservation of our unique natural environment and our property rights is ensured by adhering to the goals of the General Plan. Each issue of the Sentinel highlights one of these goals.

1. Recognize and preserve the unique rural character and individualistic lifestyle of La Habra Heights.

2. Preserve and enhance the scenic beauty and natural wildlife of the area.

3. Minimize alteration of the natural terrain.

4. Preserve, maintain, and encourage agricultural uses, especially avocado groves, citrus groves, and Christmas tree farms.

5. Reduce potential fire and recognize geologic hazards.

6. In harmony with the R-A-1 zoning, the City supports individual rights to keep horses, all animals used for 4-H projects, and other livestock as allowed by local ordinance; and encourage the private development and maintenance of a system of trails for horseback riding and hiking.

7. Assure that regional traffic demands will be accommodated in a manner consistent with the unique La Habra Heights environment.

8. Protect the Powder Canyon Significant Ecological Area.

Goal #3 protects us against the "subdivision" look of most new developments in Southern California. Our homes and building sites need to conform to the natural terrain rather than making the terrain conform to the building plans. Obviously this is undesirable for some developers, who realize that by leveling hillsides they can squeeze in more homes and thereby make larger profits. Similarly, if they fill in steep canyons, site development is far cheaper because standardized flat-land designs and construction methods can be utilized.

The process of altering natural terrain is usually termed "mass-grading." Several examples of mass-grading are visible from the Heights. By comparing these sites to what our General Plan allows, we can acquire an even greater appreciation of Goal #3.

Take a look at the flat terraced pads in the Fullerton Hills in La Habra around Euclid and Idaho streets. Another example is the side canyon fills and "bench" slopes with row houses in the Shea Homes Development on Harbor Blvd. Both look unnatural. If you have time, stop in at the Shea Homes Sales Office and look at the stunning aerial photograph of the Shea Development mounted on the wall. It shows how an entire large hilltop was sliced off and flattened.

In addition to mass-grading, developers may try to alter the natural terrain by constructing large house pads with a system of massive retaining walls. This allows them to use a "boiler plate" plan from residential tracts elsewhere in the L.A. Basin. While it can be more expensive for a developer to build retaining walls than to re-design a house to fit the terrain, most developers have no hillside experience and therefore try to fit a flat-lot house to a hillside site.

Not only do such wall-and-pad projects create unsightly structures that clutter the hillside and obscure the natural slope, but drainage problems may also arise. Failure to respect Goal #3 ruins the natural look of our community, and ultimately will negatively impact our property values.

Some people, especially those building "spec" houses, have argued that the "mansionization" of the Heights will drive housing prices upward, but there is no reason why beautiful mansions cannot conform to the General Plan. In fact, large custom homes with careful design features fitting the terrain are likely to be more valuable than "boiler plate" homes plastered precariously on the hillside one next to another.

La Habra Heights residents have for 50 years remained committed to protecting their homes and their lifestyle by requiring developers to use creative designs appropriate to our hills. Builders often propose flattening the terrain for home sites, as they seek to convert our last remaining hillside parcels into "cost-effective" projects and financial gain for themselves. But our community remains focused on the property rights of resident homeowners over the profit margins of developers.