History & Historical Plans
Only 20 acres of land on the 109-acre former sand and gravel operation is zoned for residential development. The property owner’s proposed development does NOT conform with the City’s General Plan, the Santiago Creek Greenbelt Plan, the City’s Master Plan of Trails, East Orange Plan or the OPA Specific Plan.
Background on Existing Rights
The 109-acre aggregate mining property known as the Sully Miller site has been used for resource extraction for nearly 100 years. Mining activities occurred on-site from 1919 to 1995 and consisted of surface mining of sand and aggregates. The General Plan designated the site Resource with the zoning sand and gravel.
In the early 1970s three plans were approved designating 96 acres on Sully Miller as Open Space once the extraction life was depleted: Santiago Creek Greenbelt Plan (First printing – March, 1971), Orange Park Acres Specific Plan (1973) and the East Orange General Plan (1975). The East Orange Plan designated the site Regional Park and OPA Plan designated it Santiago Greenbelt Plan.
On May 18, 1993 the Orange City Council approved a General Plan Amendment (GPA 2-93), Zone Change and Tentative Tract Map to allow the 12.6-acre site north of Santiago Creek to be subdivided for a 25 dwelling unit development. This 1993 entitled project provided the fewest number of homes (25) ever proposed for this site.
The General Plan changed the land use designation from R-A (Resource Area) to LDR (Low-Density Residential) and the zoning classification for SG (Sand and Gravel) to R-1-8. The tentative tract map expired in 2000. 12.6 acres is still zoned for residential.
The 7.6 acres on the south side of Santiago Canyon Road is zoned for 6 houses. The Tentative Tract Map was approved in 2018.
Fieldstone proposal
In 1999, housing developer Fieldstone proposed a 189-unit housing tract, which included 18 homes north of the creek adjacent to Mabury Ranch. The City Council approved the project in 2003. Orange citizens gathered the needed signatures to qualify the referendum for the ballot. The City Council rescinded their vote in 2003, which reversed all the approvals.
Rio Santiago proposal
In 2009, an investor group connected with current landowner Milan proposed 395 high-density development. Zero homes were proposed north of the creek. Citizens objected to the proposal. In 2014 the City Council denied the project.
Trails at Santiago Creek
Today, Milan is proposing a 128-track home development on 40 acres, which exceeds zoning rights. Only 12.6 acres on the Sully-Miller site is zoned for houses.