Development in Chino Hills
As I mentioned earlier, most people I speak with love our city. Why wouldn't you...we have so much going for us. If you were to move just to move...where would you go? We primarily live in Chino Hills because of the family oriented lifestyle. We also live here because of the balanced rural environment. Even though we have 76,100 residents, it usually doesn't seem like it. Adding to the sense of ruralness is the 3000 acres of permanent open space throughout the city and the State Park on the southern end of the city. Chino Hills will never have the feel of being cramped and land locked...such as you will find in most Los Angeles County cities.
The criticism I sometimes hear is that the city has allowed homes to be built on beautiful land that should have been retained for open space. In my earlier, pre- city government days....I occasionally offered the same criticism. But I came to learn during my days on the Parks Commission that the land many of us thought was protected from construction was really owned by developers. Much of the developer-owned land, which was already entitled for homes, was something we inherited from San Bernardino County when we became a city in 1991. And believe me...the more I am around confidential meetings on early pre-cityhood land use...the more I understand we inherited a mess inherited from the County. But at city hood, the city took control of its own destiny and was able to manage the pre-approved projects while using common sense thinking to create a much more planned and balanced community. As with most cities in southern California, a housing boom took place in the 80's which continued through 2007. The economic downturn starting in 2008 has delayed most of those remaining projects...but not eliminated them. Because of the notoriety our city has gained
in the past several years...those developers are now saying they see a very desirable market in which to build. So more development is on the horizon. City staff tells us there are about 3,500
(homes, town homes,apartments, etc) remaining...if every developer built out to their potential.
The Planning Commission reviews each project
as it comes forward and it is quite strict about the tough standards we have in
place. Also staff has been diligent
about recommending that developers reduce the quantity of homes on a project if
it appears that the project is too impacted compared to the size of the
property. Historically, I have requested a review of
most development projects that have come before the city council in the seven
years I have served. If a project does
not feel right...I will continue to ask for further council reviews.
Open Space Encroachment
Since the early days of city hood (1991), the City has had issues with individuals who knowingly or unknowingly extended their yards into the public open space land. The City has started and stopped a program of enforcement several times over the years. It has always stopped because because of the complicated nature of the effort to get each property to comply. When the City staff wanted to initiate the effort again...the city council agreed to give it a try. City staff had isolated 238 properties using the computerized GIS system as having taken open space public land. Finally, after going public and asking staff to give council more details on the properties, the list was narrowed down to 130 properties that may require amnesty. (More to come on this topic as decisions are made)
