Friends for a Livable Fullerton

Home
United States
Fullerton, CA
Friends for a Livable Fullerton

Preserve Fullerton’s Uniqueness and Livability; In housing, trails, parks, trees, and open space. Harbor / Harborwalk).

We are concerned that Fullerton’s unique and authentic historic atmosphere will be overwhelmed by insensitive big-box, cookie cutter projects. The Downtown Core and Corridors Specific Plan (DCCSP) was a zoning change document that would have allowed streamlined high density building projects in 7 new city districts covering over 1,300 acres. It is the largest Specific Plan in Fullerton’s history,

with over 8,000 houses and commercial properties in or near the Plan Area. Although Fullerton’s recently adopted General Plan actually allows even more density and height than the DCCSP, this plan solidifies the ability to have a streamlined behind the scenes process for projects that once had to go through a public process at the planning commission and city council. Now, if the projects meet the stated guidelines, they may proceed with only city staff review. Most projects in the plan area will be considered to have already met the environmental impact reviews, even if they will have negative effects on the surrounding area. We are concerned that Fullerton’s unique and authentic historic atmosphere will be overwhelmed by insensitive big-box, cookie cutter projects, several of which have recently been permitted by citing the upcoming DCCSP completion, although it has not yet been approved (i.e. 770 S. Even if there are areas that need help – such as the burnt-out area of Raymond and Chapman or some parts of Orangethorpe, these issues can be addressed without such massive zoning change and the expediting of big-box development throughout such a large part of the city. We prefer the European model of protecting historic resources – new development taking place in newer parts of town, allowing historic neighborhoods to remain authentic and small-scale.

01/06/2025

Housing Fast-Track Program Returns for Final Vote

Happy New Year to everyone! As expected, Fullerton's Housing Element is
about to be finalized by the City Council this Tuesday, Jan. 7th at 5:30pm.

There are two items on the agenda:

Item No. 2 (Consent Calendar) - The 2nd reading of the Housing Incentive
Overlay Zone (HIOZ) Ordinance (Zoning Map and Development Standards). The
1st reading of the Ordinance was approved on Dec. 10th and the second
reading is usually a formality, but there seems to be some kind of error
with Item 2. We thought this ordinance referred to HIOZ classification only,
rather than new multi-family zoning but this agenda item seem to be the
reverse of council direction.

We will update you on this as soon as we know, and also when we understand
a little more about any nuances with the main agenda item:

Item No. 10 (Public Hearings) - 6th Cycle (2021-2029) Housing Element
Update has been revised per CC direction on Dec. 10th. Starting with a
baseline of Total Existing Potential housing units of 3,050 (approved and
pending projects, ADUs, and 3 City Surplus Land sites) and the HIOZ upzoning
potential of 204 parcels to accommodate 10,270 units, we’ll meet the state's
minimum requirement of 13,209 units. If this gets approved by CC, it will be
forwarded to the State office of Housing and Community Development (HCD) for
final certification.

Thank you for attending the last meeting and asking the council vote to
remove most sites along historic Commonwealth and Chapman Ave. corridors and include an affordable housing requirement reserving at least 20% of the
units for moderate, low, very low, extremely low, or acutely low-income
households. A maximum building height of 65 feet was added instead of the
original no height limitation. This final housing plan is a significant
reduction from the 2023 Environmental Impact Report analyzing 759 parcels
for HIOZ upzoning with a buildout of almost 36,000 new housing units! We
will likely ask peopl

12/19/2024

STILL FREE 😁: You can still display our signs in your yard or window since the final piece of the Housing Element vote won't be until January 7th – DM us to get them for yourself and your neighbors, and our volunteers will deliver!

12/12/2024

Wow! A huge thank you to everyone who supported this effort!

It was great to see the council, which has wildly diverging views on the issue, come to a community-friendly vote. They voted to approve a MUCH smaller state-mandated fast-tracked housing program - 204 parcels rather than the earlier 730+

They even took the credits they were entitled to for housing units already in process, effectively bringing our still-need-to-meet unit number to 10,288 instead of the 13,209.

They even made the opportunity to build based on developers including 20% of their units as affordable of 10% (we’ll meet our affordability goals faster).

They even decided not to approve the fatally flawed EIR.

They even made comments about eventually finding out the financial implications of these decisions.

They postponed the non-HIOZ proposed zoning changes to a future meeting so they can study what they’re voting on (thank you, Scott Hess!)

They reiterated their commitment to small independent businesses.

They are continuing a portion of the decision to the January 7th meeting. We’re still monitoring the situation and the state office of Housing and Community Development (HCD) still needs to approve what the City submits.

You can still help by forwarding our messages to neighbors so they can sign up for our updates, and you can still display our free signs in your yard or window through January 7th – reply to get them for yourself and your neighbors, and we will deliver.

If you feel so moved, you’re also welcome to reply privately if you can help with some of the costs we’ve incurred.

And again, THANK YOU !!!!

12/04/2024

See you tonight as the Council will continue the critical discussion to arrive at a reasonable plan for Fullerton's housing growth.

It seems as if there is agreement on drastically reducing the number of anticipated new units to a number much closer to the state mandate of 13,209 (Our City was going to originally approve over 35,000!). We thank the council for their leadership on this.

Staff has given the Council 7 confusing options for property removals form the plan. We are continuing to ask them to remove (from the plan!) properties in the historic Chapman and Commonwealth corridors. This can be done with “credits” for projects already permitted, “credits” from anticipated future density-bonus projects, and the transfer of some parcels to the Harbor-Orangethorpe area that has wider streets and fewer historic properties and independent businesses.

We also hope for a serious consideration more safeguards for historic-age properties.

Public comments during this meeting will be limited to “new information” so we’re assuming that the 7 options for property removals form the plan are new information, but we’ll see what they say.

Please attend! Even if you don’t speak, your presence show supports for a reasonable, livable Fullerton!

If you can’t attend, you can write:

[email protected] the title of “CITY COUNCIL MEETING CORRESPONDENCE – ITEM 11 - HIOZ

See you tonight!!

Updates and more resources are available:
Website:

11/21/2024

Thank you to EVERYONE who turned out last night to oppose the massive property rezoning plan and support a more reasonably scaled one instead. You made the difference! All five members of the Fullerton City Council responded to our standing room only presence and numerous spoken comments by declining to adopt the plan that would have accommodated nearly 30,000 new residences in Fullerton.

The item was continued to the Dec. 3 City Council meeting, when we anticipate serious consideration of removing properties in the historic Chapman and Commonwealth corridors from the Housing Overlay Incentive Zone, as well as drastically reducing the number of anticipated new residences to a number much closer to the state-mandated Regional Housing Needs Assessment's 13,209.

All council members participated in a thoughtful and responsive conversation about how to best plan for our city's future housing needs without sacrificing the character of our city or putting a strain on vital city services and infrastructure. Mark your calendars for Dec. 3, where the council will continue this critical discussion to arrive at a reasonable plan for Fullerton's growth and prosperity.

(Note: Public comments during this meeting will be limited to new information presented at the meeting, but your presence is once again needed to show support for a Livable Fullerton!).

11/19/2024

Please plan to attend the Fullerton City Council meeting Tuesday November 19, 5:30 to oppose the plan to re-zone vast areas of Fullerton for fast-tracked high density housing (nearly 30,000 units for 90,000 new residents, with a net LOSS of nearly 5,000 local jobs!). If the Council approves this plan we lose local control over these developer plans!

Our main message to the Council is "Don't Over-Comply" with state housing mandates (the state only requires 13,000 units, but our city's planning department wants nearly 30,000!).

We're asking them to modify the propose housing plan to:

* Remove Chapman and Commonwealth Aves.
* Return High-Rise Focus to Harbor and Orangethorpe area
* Increase Affordability Requirements from 10% to 15%
* Preserve Existing Multi-Family Housing that is Already Providing Affordability
* Study the plan's impacts on Fire, Parks, Traffic, Historic Resources, Scenic Corridors Before Approving

11/16/2024

Here's the latest HIOZ map which also contains the Housing Element Sites Inventory Parcels.

11/13/2024

FREE YARD / WINDOW SIGNS! DM us with your name and address, and number of signs to have one of our volunteers drop them by (please also state preference for wooden-stake or metal-framed, although we can’t guarantee what we’ll have left).

Or, to pick one up (near Euclid and Commonwealth), let us know and we’ll get you the info you need.

As you know, in an effort to provide affordable housing, California is mandating that Fullerton accommodate 13,209 new housing units. Although fewer than 7,500 of these are required to be affordable, the new zoning allows “By-Right” Fast-Tracked Housing with a total buildout of 32,234 units, a population increase of 96,000 people, and a net loss of almost 6,000 jobs.

90% are luxury or market rate, not addressing the affordability crisis, and leading to rising land costs and major impacts on traffic, parking, new parks, city services, air quality and noise

After Tuesday’s vote, there will be no public input or notification on most future development - you won’t have a say in what gets built in your neighborhood.

Please save the date:

Tuesday, November 19th 5:30PM – HEU/HIOZ City Council Vote at City Hall

See you there,

Friends for a Livable Fullerton (FFLF)

11/07/2024

Join us 6:30 TONIGHT at our Community Forum at the historic Fox Fullerton Theatre and pick up a lawn/window sign!
Enter from the back parking lot under the green awning (not the main entrance).

The forum will discuss how we can dial back from 32,000 units to a more reasonable before the City Council votes to finalize the numbers later this month (date below). In the past, people thought we were exaggerating, but we weren’t: It’s “by-right” fast-tracked 90% luxury housing with a total buildout of 32,234 units, a population increase of 96,000 people, and a net loss of almost 6,000 jobs.

Tonight, Thursday, Nov. 7th:
6:30pm Doors Open
6:45pm Forum Presentation / Q & A / Lawn Signs / Next Steps

As you may know, in an effort to provide affordable housing, California is mandating that Fullerton accommodate 13,209 new housing units, with fewer than 7,500 of these required to be affordable.

Fullerton has increased the number of units jumped from the state-required 13,209 to 32,234!
• 90% are luxury or market rate, not addressing the affordability crisis, and leading to rising land costs.
• The majority of historic Fullerton homes and neighborhoods have no official historic protection.
• There will be major impacts on traffic, parking, new parks, city services, air quality and noise.
• After the November 19th vote, there will be no public input or notification on vast majority of future residential development - you won’t have a say in what gets built in your neighborhood.

Also, save the date:
Tuesday, November 19th 5:30PM – HEU/HIOZ City Council Vote at City Hall

See you there,

Friends for a Livable Fullerton

11/04/2024

Join Us at our free Community Forum at the historic Fox Fullerton Theatre This Thursday, Nov. 7th, 6:30pm

Doors open at 6:30pm, program starts at 6:45 about Fullerton's new fast tracked housing plan to allow up to 32,234 new housing units!

Enter from the back parking lot under the green awning (not the main entrance). The forum will discuss how we can dial back from the 32,000 units before the City Council votes to finalize the numbers later this month.

As you may know, in an effort to provide affordable housing, California is mandating that Fullerton accommodate 13,209 new housing units. Although fewer than 7,500 of these are required to be affordable, the new zoning allows:

- By-Right Fast-Tracked Housing with a total buildout of 32,234 units, a population increase of 96,000 people, and a net loss of almost 6,000 jobs.

- The number of units jumped from the state-required 13,209 to 32,234!

90% are luxury or market rate, not addressing the affordability crisis, and leading to rising land costs.

- The majority of historic Fullerton homes and neighborhoods have no official historic protection.

- There will be major impacts on traffic, parking, new parks, city services, air quality and noise.

- After the vote, there will be no public input or notification on most future development - you won’t have a say in what gets built in your neighborhood.

Also, save the dates:

Wednesday, November 6th 6:30 pm – HEU/HIOZ Planning Commission Special Meeting at City Hall (Agenda and staff report: City of Fullerton - Calendar)

Thursday, November 7th 6:30 pm – FFLF Community Forum at the Fox

Tuesday, November 19th 5:30PM – HEU/HIOZ City Council Vote at City Hall

Address

Fullerton, CA
92834

Telephone

+17147293019

Website

http://www.SaveFullerton.com/

Alerts

Be the first to know and let us send you an email when Friends for a Livable Fullerton posts news and promotions. Your email address will not be used for any other purpose, and you can unsubscribe at any time.

Contact The Organization

Send a message to Friends for a Livable Fullerton:

Want your organization to be the top-listed Government Service in Fullerton?