Keeping Orange safe is a huge responsibility. We need leaders that are committed to upholding existing zoning and respecting our community plans so our open space is preserved for future generations. We need representatives that listen to citizens and take action when property owners violate laws and create hazards that affect our health.
This November, we have a chance to elect new leaders that protect citizens, not developers or polluting property owners – ORANGE CITIZENS. We are the ones invested in our community and deserve elected representatives that put our interests FIRST. That’s why Orange Citizens to Keep Orange Safe is recommending these candidates for City Council. All have deep roots in Orange and are dedicated to serving our community. Unlike some on our current Council, these candidates have all taken a pledge NOT to accept campaign contributions from developers. And most importantly, all support our local police and firefighters. Please support these candidates and help us Keep Orange Safe!
ORANGE CITY HALL AIDS OPERATORS OF EAST ORANGE EYESORE
After ignoring citizen complaints about the mounds of construction debris piling up on the former Sully-Miller site in East Orange for more than a decade, the City of Orange was forced to acknowledge its existence via a notification to the state. Read more . . .
This continues to date.
Orange Citizens Retain Prevailing Attorney in
High-Profile Rock Quarry Lawsuit
Orange, CA, September 23, 2019 – An Orange citizens group has announced it has retained the San Francisco law firm of Edgcomb Law Group, LLP (ELG) to represent it in response to the City of Orange’s failure to close concrete-crushing operations on the former Sully-Miller site.
Read Press Release
Orange Citizens Retain Prevailing Attorney in
High-Profile Rock Quarry Lawsuit
Orange, CA, September 23, 2019 – An Orange citizens group has announced it has retained the San Francisco law firm of Edgcomb Law Group, LLP (ELG) to represent it in response to the City of Orange’s failure to close concrete-crushing operations on the former Sully-Miller site.
Read Press Release
SULLY-MILLER DUMPSITE REMAINS HOT TOPIC – July 1, 2022
LETTERS TO THE EDITOR: PUBLIC TRUST BUSTED – June 2022
COUNTY MAY ALLOW TOXIC WASTE TO BE BURIED IN ORANGE – May 2, 2022
TRAILS AT SANTIAGO CREEK EIR RESCINDED – August 1, 2021
WASTE STOCKPILER WINS CEASE AND DESIST APPEAL; OPERATION REMAINS – April 2021
VOTERS TURN DOWN MEASURE AA BY WIDE MARGIN – December 2, 2020
Orange voters rejected Measure AA, which would have upheld a change to the city’s General Plan enabling a housing development to be built on a former sand and gravel mine, by a 63 to 36% margin.
The number of people who voted against the measure (39,832) was higher than the number (36,248) who reelected Mayor Mark Murphy. The total vote count for and against the measure was 63,082, as opposed to the total count, 61,062, for either mayoral candidate. Read more . . .
On October 14, 2020 the operator of the former Sully Miller site, Chandler/Rio Santiago removed their heavy equipment and locked the gates.
The week prior, on October 9th the County delivered a huge blow to backers of Measure AA. Over the objections of the landowner’s attorney, the hearing officer allowed Kathryn Cross, Supervisor for the State’s Local Enforcement Agency (LEA) to testify. Ms. Cross’s testimony regarding the landowner’s concrete-waste crushing operation at the former Sully Miller site located on Santiago Canyon Road was that:
(1) It is an unpermitted facility
(2) the 40-foot stockpile towers of materials are deemed illegal disposal,
(3) the stockpiles need to be taken off the property, and
(4) The LEA noted there is no way of knowing whether contaminated material has been dumped at the site.
The landowner had planned to use these materials to grade the site for the building of 128 houses if voters were to approve Measure AA. Now that future is uncertain. Orange Citizens have strongly opposed the Santiago Creek Development due to the dangers of the site and the fact that it is not zoned for houses.
• Residents have complained for years to Orange City Council
• The City Council has ignored the complaints
• The City Council sided with the landowner and approved a housing development
• Residents protested the City Council decision Volunteers successfully gathered over13,000 signatures during the referendum to put it on the November 3rd ballot.
On October 22, 2019, the developer was granted a General Plan Amendment as part of its plan to build 128 houses on the site.
The City Council’s action more than doubles the area open to housing development—from 15.4 acres to 40.7 acres.
This change to our General Plan is a “sweetheart deal” for out-of-town investors.
The project represents poor land use planning for our City.
Even though the City Council had the discretion to deny the Santiago Creek development they ignored Orange Citizens, our property rights and sided with Milan. Because volunteers gathered the needed signatures during the referendum the City Council’s decision can be reversed by Voting No on AA.
Forty-foot towers of building debris and waste concrete mark the building site of this proposed 128-home development near the busy intersection of Santiago Canyon Road and Cannon Street. West of the site are active methane vents, remnants of a landfill that operated there years ago. The landowner and Investment Group Milan acknowledges that new homes built on the proposed site will require methane gas detectors to monitor dangerous levels of methane.
This land, the last large parcel of open space left in the City of Orange, backs to Santiago Oaks Regional Park. This is part of the Santiago Creek watershed that is home to Villa Park Dam, a flood control dam located downstream from Santiago Dam. In February of 1969, massive rainstorms and floods created one of the worst natural disasters in Orange County history. The Villa Park Dam & the Santiago Dam overflowed causing widespread damage and loss of lives.
Click here to learn more about the flood of 1969.
Seismic activity can also compromise dam structures, resulting in catastrophic flooding. There are several earthquake faults located in close proximity to these dams, putting hundreds of thousands of nearby residents within inundation zones.
In October 2017, the Canyon 2 Fire, a fast-moving brush fire, forced the evacuation of more than 16,000 Anaheim Hills, Orange and Tustin residents. It decimated Santiago Oaks Regional Park and burned along Santiago Creek, close to the building site of this proposed new 128-home development. In all, the Canyon 2 Fire burned more than 9,000 acres, damaged 55 structures and destroyed 25.
Historically this area is high risk for wildfires. Before the turn of the century, the Santiago Canyon Fire of 1889 (previously called the Great Fire of 1889) that began in Santiago Canyon, burned at least 300,000 acres in Orange, Riverside and San Diego Counties. Until 2018, it was possibly the single largest wildfire in the recorded history of California.
Click here to read more about the Canyon 2 Fire and California’s worsening wildfires
So, you ask, who would propose building houses in a flood plain that is downstream from two earthen dams inviting flood risk, is next to a landfill which contains methane gas, and is prone to high-risk natural hazards such as wildfires, earthquakes, and liquefaction?
Answer: Investor group Milan REI X, LLC, a California Limited Liability Corporation
More Traffic According to the draft Environmental Impact Report (DEIR) on the proposed development, adding 128 new homes will have a negligible impact on traffic. During rush hour at the already congested intersection of Santiago Canyon Road and Cannon Street, cars frequently back up to the Holy Sepulcher Cemetery on...
Read More
During the recent Canyon 2 Fire, traffic hindered East Orange residents’ efforts to evacuate. Many encountered roadblocks and were forced to turn around as authorities tried to manage the thousands trying to flee. Parents were prevented from reaching their children at schools. Heavy smoke made it difficult to see and...
Read More
No One Really Knows How Many Houses Can Be Built. One of the worse aspects of this proposed development is all of the UNKNOWNS. No one knows how many houses a developer could squeeze on the Sully Miller site. In 2010 there was a proposal for 450 units. It was...
Read More
Milan also has the right to build homes on the OPA horse arena site, the 7.6 acres on Santiago Canyon Road. In 2018 the City Council approved Milan’s proposal for six homes.
Both the City Council and the Planning Commission denied Milan’s Rio Santiago project. Milan has continued to use this as a dumpsite for concrete waste and other unknown materials. Recently citizens have uncovered, through the Public Record Act, more alarming information about the site. Actually the more that is uncovered the more we are convinced that it is irresponsible and dangerous to rezone this site to residential.
The Project conflicts with fundamental policies of the General Plan and would violate California Planning and Zoning Laws. The Orange General Plan does not promote changing designated Open Space to residential zoning.
The project is directly at odds with the goals and policies of the East Orange General Plan and OPA Plan. These plans do not promote changing Open Space to Residential.
The list of “community benefits” are based on city approvals to rezone the property to residential which violates existing plans. Any rezone will have detrimental impacts to neighboring communities. This is not good planning.
Milan bought this property without entitlements for housing except for 12 acres north of the creek. They can build across the creek. This development proposal infringes on our property rights and forces all of the impacts to our neighborhoods.
Our City Council has full discretion under the law to deny this up zoning request. Milan has no legitimate expectation that these approvals would be granted.
