Council OKs 4-Story 'Affordable Housing'

The poor folks in Portola Hills. It took a petition to recall the majority of the Lake Forest City Council before any action was taken to fix Saddleback Ranch Road to make their community safer. Now, over their objections, another developer is going to build a four-story building to provide “affordable” housing for seniors at the southeastern corner of SRR and Glenn Ranch Road.

The decision was made at the city council meeting of May 17 as it voted 4-1 in favor of the Portola Center project, which will also include 10,000 square feet of commercial space on the lower floor of the massive building. The project, owned by Chelsea Investment Corporation, is 45 feet tall but will include a tower that brings the building’s overall height to 59 feet 4 inches. There are only three taller buildings in town: The Chase building (121 feet) and the Holiday Inn on Lake Center Drive (64 feet) near the 5 freeway, and the Courtyard by Marriott on Portola Parkway (47 feet with a tower element reaching 68). Those are commercial buildings, not residential.

Adam Nick was the lone holdout in the vote, citing the objections of three former—and very experienced—planning commissioners who spoke out against the project. Because of that, he said the project raised red flags.

“I am concerned that because of the nature and size of this project, it will not be compatible with the rest of the community and as such it may, and probably will, disturb the serenity of the community,” said Nick, who with Jim Gardner took up for Portola Hills residents to fix Saddleback Ranch Road even when the council majority wouldn’t place it on the agenda. “My second concern is that three long-term members of the Planning Commission, Tim Hughes, Terry Anderson, and David Carter, for whom residents are and will be grateful for many years to come and the removal of whom from the Planning Commission was not wise—I must admit—have said publicly that the project needs to be fixed. … The three gentlemen, they have collectively served on the Planning Commission about 40 years; they have four decades of experience on this planning Commission. I would really like to learn what they mean by fixing it. I have my own ideas, but I am not a planner.

“I’m concerned about the water, I’m concerned about several things. As such, I cannot in good conscience support the project.”

Gardner said he didn’t like the project but was resigned to the fact that council members Andrew Hamilton, Scott Voigts, and Dwight Robinson were going to vote for it anyway. The three have yet to cast a dissenting vote for any item before them that has been proposed by a developer—any developer.

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Dwight Robinson said the site “made sense” for on-site housing instead of receiving in lieu fees from the developer, such as those paid by Meritage Homes in the most recent developer deal with the City. In that vote, Robinson, Voigts, and Hamilton allowed Meritage to get out of building affordable housing over the objections of Nick and Gardner.

“I like the fact we’re going to have senior affordable in town,” Robinson said. “That’s really important.”

But is it really affordable?

Annual income for single residents (who must be at least 55 years of age) is limited to $39,360, while couples are limited to $45,000, and they will pay $872 or $1,055 monthly in rent for the units, which will be 530 to 560 square feet.

A single person making the maximum income and paying $872 monthly rent will be forking over almost 27 percent of gross monthly income ($3,280); a couple making $45,000 paying $1,055 monthly rent will be giving up 28 percent of their monthly income, so making it “affordable housing” for those who qualify to live there is questionable. According to Metropolitan Life Insurance Company, it is recommended individuals spend no more than 25 percent of their monthly gross income on rent.

Residents will be limited to one car for the 61-space parking lot. There are an additional 26 parking spaces on the street within 300 feet (the length of a football field). There will be 57 parking spaces for commercial purposes.

Although developer Baldwin & Sons said the Old Santa Barbara-style building will be an iconic image in Portola Hills, 25-year resident David Herzberg said it looked too much like a Hampton Inn.

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“This building is an abomination,” Herzberg said. “The reason I live up in Portola Hills is we don’t need an ‘iconic building,’ we have Saddleback Mountain. … This is the wrong building in the wrong place. … This building is wrong for my community, and I live in my community.”

Adam Weaver, another local resident, said, “One of the things that appealed to me was the natural beauty of Lake Forest, and I appreciate the fact it’s not Irvine. I like Lake Forest for what it is. There’s nothing pretentious about Portola Hills. It’s beautiful the way it is.”

There are no balconies “for aesthetics,” the developer said, so that residents wouldn’t be able to put up satellite dishes.

Hamilton, who was on the Planning Commission when the four-story project was first introduced and approved, loved it.

“The 500 square feet is the perfect size for Grandma,” he said.

About the author: Martin Henderson won several Los Angeles and Orange County press club awards while an editor at Patch in 2012-13.