Today’s the first day of spring and besides the plants and flowers blooming, thanks to our recent rains, two important housing projects are also raring to bloom in Brea.
At the March 11 Brea Planning Commission meeting, two proposed housing projects were presented in a public hearing.
First was BOSC’s Brea Plaza Living, proposing 120 apartments, including 49 affordable units, built above a two-story parking structure at the Brea Plaza Center at Imperial Highway and Associated Road.
What raised red flags with the commissioners and some Brea Glenbrook residents who live near the shopping center was that the parking structure would only have 95 parking spaces.
But according to City Planner Joanne Hwang, “The surface parking area will be reconfigured as part of the project, and would include 53 spaces.”
She added that the entire shopping center would have a total of 789 spaces.
I was surprised that more Glenbrook residents were not present at the Planning Commission meeting. Many of them were strongly opposed to a previous housing, mixed-use project for Brea Plaza, mainly for potential traffic and lack of parking that they assumed would cause apartment dwellers to park in their neighborhood. They wanted it put on the ballot and let the people decide. Instead, BOSC rescinded the project.
This project is smaller with additional parking. Will it be enough?
The second project was Village at Greenbriar. It would be at 1698-1700 Greenbriar Lane, where the vacant former Mercury Savings building and a three-story parking structure now stand.
The 164,908-square-foot former office building and three-story parking structure would be demolished to make way for the Village at Greenbriar with 179 for-sale, housing units, plus a private park and other amenities. Included would be some three-story units with rooftop decks.
Slides of the project shown at the Planning Commission meeting looked like a very attractive development.
The legal owner of the property is Greenbriar Lane, LLC, and Dwight Manley is the agent of record, according to Jason Killebrew, assistant city manager. Manley’s property at Mercury Lane and Berry Street would house the 85 affordable units required by law for the Greenbriar project.
The main concern of Greenbriar Lane resident Carolyn Dail, who spoke at the meeting, is the prospect of Village residents parking in front of the neighbors’ houses and traffic, especially cut-through traffic.
The project’s attached one- and two-car garages have no driveways for extra vehicles or space to park parallel behind the garages.
Commissioner Tom Donini voted to abstain on the Brea Plaza project, and Commissioner Ted Gribble was advised by the city attorney to recuse himself from that project’s discussion and vote due to his involvement in the group that strongly opposed the previously rescinded Brea Gateway project.
Donini rescued himself to the Village at Greenbriar discussion and vote due to taking a campaign donation from one of the project’s principals.
In the end, both projects were recommended to the City Council. A public hearing on both is expected at the council’s April 1 meeting. If you have questions, issues or compliments about either project that’s the time to speak up.
This is also the time to save $10 per ticket for the Brea Chamber of Commerce’s Taste of Brea from 5 to 9 p.m. on May 22 in Brea Downtown. March 31 is the last day to save. Go to Tasteofbrea.com to buy your tickets.
Terri Daxon is a freelance writer and the owner of Daxon Marketing Communications. She gives her perspective on Brea issues twice a month. Contact her at [email protected].