Published: May 19, 2010
Updated: 8:12 a.m.

Council approves 1,300-home Brea development

By LOU PONSI
THE ORANGE COUNTY REGISTER

BREA — The 221-acre La Floresta project, bringing up to 1,347 homes to the city, was unanimously approved Tuesday night by the City Council.

Construction should begin by Jan. 1 and take up to seven years to complete, said project manager Jim Martinez of Chevron Land and Development.

"It's the most exciting project in all of Orange County," Martinez said.

The project will be built on two sites owned by Chevron: the Hartley Research Center — Unocal's old headquarters — and a corner of the Birch Hills Golf Course.

The first site, La Floresta Village, will encompass 119 acres at the northeast corner of Imperial Highway and Valencia Avenue and have up 1,100 residential units and 156,800 square feet of commercial retail and office space. Housing will include condominiums, single-family detached homes, townhomes, senior-living units and a community center.

The second site, Birch Hills, will take up 92 acres near the southwest corner of Birch Street and Kraemer Boulevard, and include up to 247 residential units, 115 of which will be for rent.

The site involves reconfiguration of the Birch Hills Golf Course, which will be donated to the city within five years.

"This is a very excellent project," Councilman Roy Moore said. "Brea will be very blessed with it. ... It will be a real legacy to our community."

During the public hearing prior to the council's approval, nearly all comments favored the development.

The Planning Commission, in September 2008, approved the project and certified its environmental report, prompting Yorba Linda officials to file an appeal, citing traffic and safety concerns along Rose Drive.

Since the appeal, Chevron Land and Development agreed to pay a traffic impact fee of $250,000 to Yorba Linda to alleviate the issues.

The Yorba Linda City Council, in a closed session Tuesday, voted to accept the fee.

A county commission on school district organization ruled that students from La Floresta will attend the Brea Olinda Unified School District.

Initially, the boundary between Brea Olinda and Placentia-Yorba Linda Unified split the development, with each district having half of the children.

Contact the writer: lponsi@ocregister.com or 714-704-3730

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