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Placentia commission recommends council deny 777 West Orangethorpe mixed‑use project
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Summary
After lengthy staff presentation and public comment, the Planning Commission voted unanimously (5‑0, two absences) to recommend the City Council deny entitlements for a 248‑unit, five‑story mixed‑use project at 777 West Orangethorpe Avenue, citing general‑plan inconsistency, parking and traffic safety concerns and potential fiscal impacts; environmental advocates urged an EIR.
The Placentia Planning Commission voted to recommend that the City Council deny the entitlements for a proposed five‑story mixed‑use development at 777 West Orangethorpe Avenue, a proposal that would have demolished an existing auto dealership and built about 248 residential units with ground‑floor retail and a six‑level parking structure.
Planning manager Andrew Gonzalez, presenting the staff report, said the project requires a General Plan amendment, a specific plan amendment and Development Plan Review and that staff found the proposal inconsistent with multiple general plan elements. "The recommendation by staff is denial of the proposed project," Gonzalez told the commission. He also noted the administrative correction changing references to a 7‑level parking structure to the project's current 6‑level count.
Staff highlighted concerns about inadequate pedestrian and multimodal improvements, insufficient on‑site parking and the likelihood of spillover parking into nearby residential streets. City transportation manager Kira Tao testified she did not support the project because the primary driveway access on Placentia Avenue would create difficult and potentially unsafe turning movements and because the site lacks active‑transportation infrastructure. Fire Chief Devine said the department's current staffing and apparatus constraints raised concerns about the city's ability to serve a large new occupancy.
An independent fiscal analysis prepared for staff compared three development scenarios and found a hotel would generate the greatest near‑term net fiscal return for the city while the proposed residential option would produce a modest negative annual fiscal impact once stabilized. Staff emphasized these fiscal results along with the project's incompatibility with the SB‑5 specific plan and other general‑plan policies.
Environmental advocates and the project's opponents urged stronger environmental review. Chase Preciado, an attorney representing the group SAFER, argued the Mitigated Negative Declaration (MND) understates construction volatile organic compound emissions, diesel particulate matter health risks and greenhouse‑gas impacts and urged the commission to require an Environmental Impact Report. Preciado said independent analyses show construction VOCs and diesel particulate matter could exceed applicable thresholds. The applicant's counsel, Ryan Leaderman of Holland & Knight, disputed the consistency findings and said the project represents "a $100,000,000 investment" in Placentia and that impacts had been mitigated.
After public comment and commissioner discussion, a motion to adopt Resolution PC‑2024‑09 recommending denial passed on a roll‑call vote (Evans, Ingalls, Navarro, Rock and Chair Perez voting yes; two members absent). Staff clarified the planning commission's action is a recommendation to City Council rather than a final approval and therefore will be considered by the council; staff also noted there is not an administrative appeal period for a recommendation.
The commission's recommendation sends the denial packet to City Council for a final decision; council will consider the entitlements and the associated environmental record in a later hearing.
