Anaheim Rejects 500-Unit Development Over Size, Wildfire Concerns

A controversial plan to build about 500 luxury apartments near a Southern California nature preserve is dead, at least for now, over size concerns and wildfire evacuation risk.

The Anaheim City Council voted 5-2 to nix the project from Utah-based Salt Development, which called for a seven-story, 498-unit complex near Deer Canyon Park Preserve in Anaheim Hills, according to the Orange County Register. Plans for the project also called for 40,000 square feet of commercial space and 50 acres of preserved open space, according to the city.

The development, which Salt called the Hills Preserve project, won approval from the city’s planning commission in September. Salt argued at the time that the project would add much-needed housing options, alongside an offer of $1 million to help fund other affordable housing projects in Anaheim. Salt also claimed that its project would actually make the area stronger against wildfires due to added hydrants, retaining walls and the removal of underbrush. 

Yet city staff recommended that the commission reject the project, as the increased density in the area would “increase evacuation time and result in an exacerbation of risk” if a fire were to occur, and that the project would be “detrimental to the public interest, health, safety, convenience or welfare of the city.”

The sentiment echoed opposition from some local residents, who have protested the 76-acre project over the same concerns.

“The project would have brought some benefit to a portion of a fire-prone canyon by developing part of it with a building constructed to high fire standards, which has the effect of creating a firebreak amid some of the area’s vegetation,” city spokesperson Mike Lyster told Commercial Observer. “But, ultimately, that could not overcome larger concerns about the amount of development and fire risk and evacuations.”

Representatives for Salt did not immediately respond to a request for comment. 

Salt still has some options on the table. It could apply for a new hearing over due process concerns, essentially appealing the council’s decision, or it could attempt to invoke California’s Builder’s Remedy ordinance, which allows developers to bypass local zoning restrictions if a city is out of compliance with state housing law. 

Anaheim’s housing element is currently out of compliance with the state, which opens Anaheim up to Builder’s Remedy applications. But developers attempting to invoke the formerly little-known ordinance have faced legal and procedural challenges in cities throughout California. Salt has expressed interest in three potential Builder’s Remedy proposals but has not yet made a formal application, according to the city.

Nick Trombola can be reached at ntrombola@commercialobserver.com.