Irvine hopes to make nice in a brewing battle between housing developers and manufacturers.
Officials have drawn a map indicating where housing would be allowed in the city’s business district east of John Wayne Airport and are considering rules for developers to follow.
Irvine also may approve new development fees for area projects.
The goal: impress order onto the relatively haphazard development of housing in the area. The City Council is expected to vote on the plan early this year.
“The city of Irvine is under intense pressure by residential developers to develop medium-high to high-density residential,” said Michael Haack, Irvine’s manager of development services.
The conflict between manufacturers and housing developers has been percolating for years as the area of mostly office and industrial buildings becomes more popular for luxury living in posh apartments and condominiums.
New housing projects appeal to professionals in the area who continue to grow in numbers, while many manufacturers and distributors have moved further inland, where land is cheaper and more plentiful.
The plan is called an overlay district. The designated area for housing would be concentrated around Jamboree Road and bordered by the former Tustin Marine base, Campus Drive, the Costa Mesa (55) Freeway and the San Diego Creek Channel.
The former base is undergoing an unrelated redevelopment, with the creation of a large shopping center at the corner of Jamboree and Barranca as well as homes throughout. The interplay of efforts by Tustin and Irvine could radically transform Jamboree into a center for shops and housing.
Irvine is responding to complaints from some area businesses that housing is encroaching on their operations, Haack said. The city also wants to ensure that the same level of planning goes into future housing developments there as in other parts of the city, he said.
So far most area business owners have responded well to the plan, according to Haack. But he said a few owners rather would not see any more housing in the area, known as the Irvine Business Complex.
“They just feel residential was never intended for the Irvine Business Complex,” Haack said.
The best the city can do is create buffers among industrial uses and housing, and limit areas where housing can go, Haack said. The city must deal with the underlying shift in land economics, which favors housing, he said.
In 2003, two of the area’s largest and most senior manufacturers, St. John Knits International Inc. and Royalty Carpet Mills Inc., both based in Irvine, fought an apartment project close to their plants on Kelvin Avenue.
Palo Alto’s Essex Property Trust Inc. won city approval anyway for 132 luxury apartments, but agreed to make changes.
Meanwhile, residential developers may balk at the new fees and development standards in the overlay plan. No project already built, under construction or where the city already has issued a building permit would be impacted by the plan.
The city now charges steep development fees, according to Tim Strader Jr., president of Irvine-based consultant and developer Starpointe Ventures. Strader is working with several developers on projects in the area.
Irvine fees typically add $17,000 to $18,000 to the cost of each apartment or condo, a little on the high side for the county, according to Strader.
Strader, based on what he has seen so far from Irvine, said he doesn’t foresee big fee increases related to the overlay district. He said he’s optimistic that the city’s efforts will benefit developers.
Some 2,200 apartments and condos are proposed but not yet approved for the area, according to the city. Developers already have built or received approval for 6,823 units.
Irvine last month held a public meeting to discuss its proposed overlay district. About 60 developers and business owners attended.
Predictably, developers asked plenty of questions about how they would be impacted and some business owners complained about excess housing. The city plans another meeting next week. The City Council should consider the plan after that.
Irvine’s plan will not change any zoning, as does a similar plan approved by Anaheim for an area around Angel Stadium of Anaheim. Instead, Irvine has drawn some imaginary lines on a map and said that zone changes for residential development outside the lines would be “discouraged.”
Inside the overlay district, Irvine officials have designated six areas, mostly along Jamboree, where they hope to see a concentration of future housing mixed with other uses, such as offices, shops and entertainment.
Two core areas are dissected by Michelson Drive, two others by Main Street. Another is centered around the intersection of Alton Parkway and Jamboree Road. The last is near Von Karman Avenue and Barranca Parkway.
Irvine also is considering development standards that would influence some future projects. City planners want to see more pedestrian-friendly development, which means a builder could be obliged to create or expand sidewalks.
Some other proposed standards or goals: improve projects’ relations to transit, create more local streets, promote safety, buffer residential developments from industrial uses, and encourage variation in building heights and types.
Developers may have to pay fees to contribute to the creation of parks, according to the city’s Haack.
