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Orange council directs staff to rewrite design‑review rules, rejects moratorium
Summary
After months of volunteer work on a preservation ordinance and a split council debate over interim limits, the City Council voted 5–2 to direct staff to draft a new ordinance narrowing the Design Review Committee’s scope to primarily historic resources while moving routine commercial review to staff.
The Orange City Council voted 5–2 on Aug. 12 to direct staff to draft a rewritten ordinance that would scale back the Design Review Committee’s (DRC) authority and reserve DRC review primarily for historic districts and properties identified on the city’s inventory.
The action follows a presentation by Community Development Director Russell Bunim, who proposed four changes to speed up business permitting: (1) rely on administrative design review for most projects outside historic districts and properties on the city inventory; (2) move sign approval for non‑historic properties to staff; (3) allow demolition approvals for non‑contributing structures…
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