P O Box 1879, Garden Grove, CA 92842-1879
September 24, 2009
Dear Neighbor,
Just a few newsy items and the Brookhurst Triangle:
On August 25th the City Council voted to increase the water rates enough to cover the increased cost of buying water from the Metropolitan Water District, but the proposal giving the City Manager the authority to pass along future water rate increases was not adopted. Many Garden Grove residents attended this meeting and strongly opposed this aspect of the proposal.
During the Garden Grove City Council meeting on September 8th the subject of a water feature at Atlantis Park was readdressed. It was reported by the Garden Grove Journal that funding for a splash pad at Atlantis Park had been withdrawn by County Supervisor Janet Nguyen because of excessive infrastructure costs. However, the Council did request that Staff request bids and find money to install skateboard parks in Garden Grove and West Haven Parks.
The latest Grand Jury report has published an interesting article on the subject of “Paper Water.” It begins - “Paper water” is an illusion. It is a term used in the water industry that represents an entitlement, existing only on paper, which agencies can expect to receive from state and federal water projects based on projections and expectations. The gap between allocated “paper water” and available “real water” can be dramatic. This term may succinctly define Orange County’s water future as judicial rulings systematically continue to remove available supplies from the reach of Orange County’s consumers. To read more, I have included the link in order to print this entire article. http://www.ocgrandjury.org/pdfs/paper-water/Paper-Water-Final.pdf
Speaking of water, Robin found a free low-flow showerhead and faucet aerator offer from Southern California Gas. You just fill out the application online to receive this offer. Simply go to
http://www.socalgas.com/residential/showerhead/
An informal informational meeting was hosted by Karl Hill, Planning Services Manager, at City Hall on Wednesday, September 16th, regarding the proposed mixed-use development of the Brookhurst Triangle. Also present were traffic engineer Dan Candelaria and Economic Development Director Chet Yoshizaki, and the meeting was attended by approximately 40 Garden Grove residents. The City of Garden Grove owns the property and artist’s renderings commissioned by the city were available depicting a large scale, high-density development comprised of 800 mostly 1-bedroom, 2-bath dwellings in 4, 7, 15 and 23-story buildings with 200,000 square feet of ground level commercial/retail space, including one 30,000 foot commercial/retail space. An approximately 60:40 or possibly 50:50 ratio was mentioned in terms of rental units in relationship to condominiums available for purchase. The project included a 1-mile nature walk and a lake.
Traffic was by far the most controversial issue brought up by the residents who attended this meeting, especially the southbound right-hand lane of Brookhurst Street at Garden Grove Blvd., as well as concerns about increased traffic coming and going on Stanford Ave. between Gilbert Street and Brookhurst Street. As expected, Mr. Candelaria cited a traffic study in favor of the development. Many suggestions were made and there was some reassurance, but not ironclad, that Stanford Ave. would be protected with possibly solid structure barriers diverting traffic away from Stanford. Also mentioned was the observation that the proposed development did not exactly fit the existing character of the surrounding neighborhoods.
I did mention that the proposed development is very reminiscent of prior proposals for the same property as well as completed projects such as the Chapman Commons, which have not done spectacularly well because of the economic downturn and loss of residential home values. At this time, the City of Garden Grove is basically soliciting invitations to bid on their proposed development at the Brookhurst Triangle, which, it was also mentioned, could possibly be scaled back from the initial, breathtakingly high number of 800 residential units.
Very interestingly, Mr. Yoshikazi spoke about the decision making process in terms of attracting higher end retailers such as Trader Joe’s, Border’s Books and even Crate and Barrel. He mentioned that the most important criterion for such a retailer to build in a city is educational level, i.e., the number of college degrees in the proposed city. Income level is also important, but academic level is actually the most important factor in determining in which cities to build. Mayor Dalton had also pointed out this exact same thing to me during a conversation at one of our Annual Meetings at my home a year or two ago.
I, therefore, have been wondering about the possibility of an expanded vision for our Brookhurst Triangle. As we all know, Garden Grove produces a very high number of high school graduates with unbelievably high grade point averages. Many of them qualify for scholarships, get the student loans, go to colleges and universities, and end up in wonderful jobs and professions, but not in Garden Grove. We have in the Brookhurst Triangle 15.6 acres upon which dreams and aspirations can be built. During the neighborhood meeting I mentioned possibly building a medical facility there, which would employ physicians, technicians, nurses, administrators, clerks, supply chains, etc. Upon thinking further and reading about the huge sums of venture capital being literally cascaded on green technology nowadays, why couldn’t our city leaders also solicit bids for engineering and/or research facilities that would employ physicists, biologists and engineers along with their necessary ancillary staff.
A project such as I envision would surely attract these college graduates, who would buy homes here in Garden Grove and learn to enjoy and appreciate the character of our community, fix up these homes, live close to their families, and in turn enrich our city. Equally importantly, however, we could achieve the higher educational level required of our residents in order to bring in the higher end retailers, which is critical to our economic well being.
Like I said – expanded vision – looking at a long-term, bigger picture. Is it possible to do some research, find out where these projects might originate worldwide, and solicit invitations to bid from these folks. Is it against the law to send out two types of solicitations to bid, one type for high-density, mixed-use developments and another for medical, research and engineering types of projects. I think it is worth considering.
On Thursday, October 1st at 7:00 p.m., Garden Grove residents will have the opportunity to express their opinions to the Planning Commission regarding the Brookhurst Triangle.
Respectfully,
Cheryl Armstrong
714 537-8468 Home
714 260-8468 Cell
Dear Neighbor,
Just a few newsy items and the Brookhurst Triangle:
On August 25th the City Council voted to increase the water rates enough to cover the increased cost of buying water from the Metropolitan Water District, but the proposal giving the City Manager the authority to pass along future water rate increases was not adopted. Many Garden Grove residents attended this meeting and strongly opposed this aspect of the proposal.
During the Garden Grove City Council meeting on September 8th the subject of a water feature at Atlantis Park was readdressed. It was reported by the Garden Grove Journal that funding for a splash pad at Atlantis Park had been withdrawn by County Supervisor Janet Nguyen because of excessive infrastructure costs. However, the Council did request that Staff request bids and find money to install skateboard parks in Garden Grove and West Haven Parks.
The latest Grand Jury report has published an interesting article on the subject of “Paper Water.” It begins - “Paper water” is an illusion. It is a term used in the water industry that represents an entitlement, existing only on paper, which agencies can expect to receive from state and federal water projects based on projections and expectations. The gap between allocated “paper water” and available “real water” can be dramatic. This term may succinctly define Orange County’s water future as judicial rulings systematically continue to remove available supplies from the reach of Orange County’s consumers. To read more, I have included the link in order to print this entire article. http://www.ocgrandjury.org/pdfs/paper-water/Paper-Water-Final.pdf
Speaking of water, Robin found a free low-flow showerhead and faucet aerator offer from Southern California Gas. You just fill out the application online to receive this offer. Simply go to
http://www.socalgas.com/residential/showerhead/
An informal informational meeting was hosted by Karl Hill, Planning Services Manager, at City Hall on Wednesday, September 16th, regarding the proposed mixed-use development of the Brookhurst Triangle. Also present were traffic engineer Dan Candelaria and Economic Development Director Chet Yoshizaki, and the meeting was attended by approximately 40 Garden Grove residents. The City of Garden Grove owns the property and artist’s renderings commissioned by the city were available depicting a large scale, high-density development comprised of 800 mostly 1-bedroom, 2-bath dwellings in 4, 7, 15 and 23-story buildings with 200,000 square feet of ground level commercial/retail space, including one 30,000 foot commercial/retail space. An approximately 60:40 or possibly 50:50 ratio was mentioned in terms of rental units in relationship to condominiums available for purchase. The project included a 1-mile nature walk and a lake.
Traffic was by far the most controversial issue brought up by the residents who attended this meeting, especially the southbound right-hand lane of Brookhurst Street at Garden Grove Blvd., as well as concerns about increased traffic coming and going on Stanford Ave. between Gilbert Street and Brookhurst Street. As expected, Mr. Candelaria cited a traffic study in favor of the development. Many suggestions were made and there was some reassurance, but not ironclad, that Stanford Ave. would be protected with possibly solid structure barriers diverting traffic away from Stanford. Also mentioned was the observation that the proposed development did not exactly fit the existing character of the surrounding neighborhoods.
I did mention that the proposed development is very reminiscent of prior proposals for the same property as well as completed projects such as the Chapman Commons, which have not done spectacularly well because of the economic downturn and loss of residential home values. At this time, the City of Garden Grove is basically soliciting invitations to bid on their proposed development at the Brookhurst Triangle, which, it was also mentioned, could possibly be scaled back from the initial, breathtakingly high number of 800 residential units.
Very interestingly, Mr. Yoshikazi spoke about the decision making process in terms of attracting higher end retailers such as Trader Joe’s, Border’s Books and even Crate and Barrel. He mentioned that the most important criterion for such a retailer to build in a city is educational level, i.e., the number of college degrees in the proposed city. Income level is also important, but academic level is actually the most important factor in determining in which cities to build. Mayor Dalton had also pointed out this exact same thing to me during a conversation at one of our Annual Meetings at my home a year or two ago.
I, therefore, have been wondering about the possibility of an expanded vision for our Brookhurst Triangle. As we all know, Garden Grove produces a very high number of high school graduates with unbelievably high grade point averages. Many of them qualify for scholarships, get the student loans, go to colleges and universities, and end up in wonderful jobs and professions, but not in Garden Grove. We have in the Brookhurst Triangle 15.6 acres upon which dreams and aspirations can be built. During the neighborhood meeting I mentioned possibly building a medical facility there, which would employ physicians, technicians, nurses, administrators, clerks, supply chains, etc. Upon thinking further and reading about the huge sums of venture capital being literally cascaded on green technology nowadays, why couldn’t our city leaders also solicit bids for engineering and/or research facilities that would employ physicists, biologists and engineers along with their necessary ancillary staff.
A project such as I envision would surely attract these college graduates, who would buy homes here in Garden Grove and learn to enjoy and appreciate the character of our community, fix up these homes, live close to their families, and in turn enrich our city. Equally importantly, however, we could achieve the higher educational level required of our residents in order to bring in the higher end retailers, which is critical to our economic well being.
Like I said – expanded vision – looking at a long-term, bigger picture. Is it possible to do some research, find out where these projects might originate worldwide, and solicit invitations to bid from these folks. Is it against the law to send out two types of solicitations to bid, one type for high-density, mixed-use developments and another for medical, research and engineering types of projects. I think it is worth considering.
On Thursday, October 1st at 7:00 p.m., Garden Grove residents will have the opportunity to express their opinions to the Planning Commission regarding the Brookhurst Triangle.
Respectfully,
Cheryl Armstrong
714 537-8468 Home
714 260-8468 Cell