2022 News
The Story Behind the Sully-Miller site
For the last twenty years investors have tried to develop the Sully Miller site and failed. Only 12.6 acres is zoned for houses. The balance of the site is designated open space.
Here are a few of the articles published, over the last twenty years, about the former Sully-Miller site
ORANGE COUNCIL RECOGNIZE POTENTIAL SULLY-MILLER AS RECREATION – Oct 2022
ORANGE COUNCIL BREAKS SILENCE ON ILLEGAL LANDFILL IN EAST ORANGE – July 26, 2022
LETTERS TO THE EDITOR: LANDFILL LAMENTATIONS – July 28, 2022
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TRAILS AT SANTIAGO CREEK EIR RESCINDED – August 1, 2021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 1, 2021
COUNTY DISPUTES OPERATOR AND MILAN’S CLAIMS – October 2020
SANTIAGO CREEK SAFETY VALVE SHOULD NOT BE OVERLOOKED – October 2020
Read the fine print – big money to be dropped in Orange – Sept 2020 County Cease and Desist Order Ignored – Sept 2020
County issues cease and desist letter to Sully-Miller dump site – Aug 2020
Guest Commentary: An opportunity too good to miss – Aug 2020
East Orange development scores city approval – Nov 2019
Orange notified of its legal obligation to stop concrete crushing at Sully-Miller site – Oct 2019
Development opponents brace for Orange council decision; referendum may be only remedy – Oct 2019
Reclamation project promises more traffic on East Orange’s Santiago Canyon Road – Sept 2019
Orange Planning Commission OKs East Orange development – Sept 2019
Milan gets huge property tax cut August 2019
Commentary: The Trails at Santiago Creek August 2019
Letters – July 2019
Commentary: Huffery and Puffery – July 2019
AS ORANGE WEIGHS APPROVAL OF A HOUSING TRACT ON THE SULLY-MILLER June, 1, 2019
Response to comments offers answers for a complex land-use puzzle – June 2019
Mistake after mistake after mistake – June 2019
What developers don’t tell you April 2019
The elephant in the room February 2019
Villa Park says recirculated Sully-Miller project DEIR ignores its input – January 2019
Piling it on, covering it up January 2019
The Mystery of Sully’s Mine– December 2018 (Peter Jacklin)
Community unity fading as Sully-Miller developer invokes divide and conquer tactics October 2018
OPA residents debate costs vs. benefits of Sully-Miller development proposal – August 2018
Guest Commentary: A pig in a poke June 2018
Residents restate reasons they oppose East Orange project; developer isn’t listening June 2018
Agencies find fault with East Orange project May 2018
Bell sounds for Sully-Miller development, round three March 2018
Would-be East Orange developer reprises court claim filed in 2011
Sully-Miller proposal raises hackles, not hopes March 2017
FIELDSTONED OCTOBER 30, 2003
They’ve lobbied Orange residents with glossy fliers, purchased the official support of Orange Park Acres, even set aside valuable property for future parkland. But now it seems the only way Fieldstone Homes can ensure its conversion of an abandoned gravel mine into a pricey neighborhood is to hire goons to thwart a Continue reading “Fieldstoned”
MINE SWEEPER MAY 15, 2003
No matter how serious its problems, the proposed Sully-Miller housing development in Orange won’t die. Located on an old sand-and-gravel mine, the site houses a very dirty, noisy rock-crushing-and-recycling operation run by Hanson Aggregates. A six-acre park planned for the southwest corner of the site is occupied by an old landfill that … Continue reading“Mine Sweeper”
A RIVER WILL RUN THROUGH IT FEBRUARY 20, 2003
It took something approaching an act of Congress, but a bizarre plan to build 180 homes in the path of a creek atop an old mine has seemingly finally run into reality. On Feb. 4, state officials told the city of Orange that Newport Beach-based Fieldstone Communities’ proposal for a residential community … Continue reading“A River Will Run Through It”
VIGOROUS SUPPORT FEBRUARY 6, 2003
Orange Park Acres is the kind of horsy community where the 4-H Club thrives and horse people visit from miles around to attend equestrian events. In fact, the Orange Park Acres (OPA) homeowners’ association loves horses so much they signed away their constitutionally guaranteed free-speech rights to a developer in exchange for a horse arena … Continue reading“Vigorous Support”
3BD 3BA UNDERWATER JANUARY 30, 2003
There are places in this world so dangerous, so odious, so bad for an individual’s welfare that people should not live in them. It’s why we don’t find many apartment complexes in volcanoes, why there is a paucity of split-level dwellings near the top of melting ice shelves and why everyone’s advised … Continue reading “3BD 3BA Underwater”
HANSONS DISEASE JANUARY 9, 2003
From their spacious Orange Park Acres home, Mark and Hilarie Moore have an unparalleled view of a giant pile of rock dust and gravel. Just a few dozen yards from their home, that pile is the business end of the Hanson Aggregates rock-crushing operation, located on the old Sully-Miller gravel mining site. … Continue reading “Hansons Disease”
MINE KAMPF JANUARY 2, 2003
Open space is increasingly rare in Orange County, but even so, Fieldstone Homes’ plans for the city of Orange seem improbable. The Newport Beach-based homebuilder has asked city officials for permission to build 180 houses in the path of a creek in an area state documents show is a flood zone. Weirder … Continue reading “Mine Kampf”
A RIVER WILL RUN THROUGH IT DECEMBER 19, 2002
Orange hasn’t got the technical firepower to handle developers—there’s not a single hydrologist or geologist on the city’s staff. Still, it’s surprising officials didn’t have the street smarts to say no to a proposal to build 180 homes in the path of a river atop an abandoned sand-and-gravel mine. “I’ve lived here … Continue reading
(we apologize if some of the links are broken, we hope that they will be restored soon)
