IRVINE — When Deb Swensen moved to the Orange Tree community nearly 20 years ago, the area was largely home to strawberry and bean fields.

Sand Canyon Avenue was one-lane in each direction, and Swensen frequently shared the road with farm equipment. With barely any traffic lights, she said she could fly up and down Sand Canyon.

“It was a different world,” she said.

Such bucolic times, to the dismay of some long-time residents, are gone as Irvine has morphed into a mega suburb with a population over 250,000 — and still growing. And they are worried things may get worse.

Swensen was among a few dozen Orange Tree residents who attended a meeting Wednesday, July 19, at Oak Creek Golf Club — across the street from their community — to get information and voice their opinions about the Irvine Co.’s plan to build a 1,710-unit apartment complex.

The Irvine Co. is asking the city to amend the General Plan, which defines the city’s long-term plan for development, and change zoning so the company can build the complex on the former Traveland USA site off the I-5 freeway across Sand Canyon from La Quinta Inn & Suites. The 70-acre land, owned by the Irvine Co., sits empty.

In addition, the developer is proposing 250 condominiums and a 10,000-square-foot child care center on its 20 acres of vacant land at Sand Canyon and Great Park Boulevard, about 0.7 miles north of the Traveland site. The site was previously anticipated as a 205,000-square-foot commercial center.

These proposals, especially the apartments, have raised concerns among residents and elected city officials about the impacts of increased population on traffic and schools.

“I understand the need for housing, but I’m concerned about traffic,” Swensen said.

Targeting young professionals

Wednesday was the first in a series of meetings the Irvine Co. plans to host for nearby homeowner’s associations to discuss the project.

“We want to make sure people have adequate input into the process,” said Robin Leftwich, vice president of community affairs at Irvine Co.

Irvine Co. officials say the project would produce less traffic in the area — by about 24,000 car trips a day — compared to building 955,000 square feet of offices allowed under the existing zoning. The offices would bring in about 4,000 employees, according to the company.

Generally, housing creates less traffic than offices, Irvine Co. Senior Vice President Michael Le Blanc said.

The proposed apartments are mainly targeted toward young professionals working in the nearby Spectrum area and making $45,000-$65,000 a year, Irvine Co. officials said.

Irvine is home to more than 206,000 jobs and 15,000 companies, according to the Irvine Co. As many as 100,000 people commute to their jobs in Irvine from other cities, company officials said, adding traffic on city streets and freeways.

The proposed apartments and condos would allow these people to live close to work, Irvine Co. officials said. There are more than 57,000 jobs within two miles from the Traveland site, including at Kaiser Permanente, Hoag and Blizzard Entertainment.

Rents for the proposed apartments would be lower than other rental communities in the area because they would be smaller and less costly to build, Le Blanc said.

The apartments would have studios, one-bedrooms and two-bedrooms, ranging from 500 to 775 square feet. Rents could be $1,425-$2,200 in today’s dollars, company officials said.

Although he didn’t answer whether the Irvine Co. would make more money by building apartments than offices, Le Blanc said there’s strong demand for housing.

“This is a much better use of the land” for both the Irvine Co. and the general public, he said.

Irvine Co. Senior Vice President Michael Le Blanc, left, discusses with Orange Tree resident Chip Dorman about the company’s plan to build a 1,710-unit apartment complex along Sand Canyon Avenue in Irvine on July 19, 2017, at Oak Tree Golf Club. (Photo by Tomoya Shimura, Orange County Register/SCNG)

Irvine Co. Senior Vice President Michael Le Blanc speaks to Orange Tree residents about the company’s plan to build a 1,710-unit apartment complex along Sand Canyon Avenue in Irvine on July 19, 2017 at Oak Tree Golf Club. (Photo by Tomoya Shimura, Orange County Register/SCNG)

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Irvine Co. Vice President Jeff Davis explains to Orange Tree community residents about the company’s plan to build a 1,710-unit apartment complex along Sand Canyon Avenue in Irvine on July 19, 2017, at Oak Tree Golf Club. (Photo by Tomoya Shimura, Orange County Register/SCNG)

Irvine Co.’s rendering of its proposed 1,710-unit apartment complex along Sand Canyon Avenue in Irvine. (Photo by Tomoya Shimura, Orange County Register/SCNG)

Irvine Co.’s rendering of its proposed 1,710-unit apartment complex along Sand Canyon Avenue in Irvine. (Photo by Tomoya Shimura, Orange County Register/SCNG)



The image shows the layout of the Irvine Co.’s proposed 1,710-unit apartment complex along Sand Canyon Avenue in Irvine. (Photo by Tomoya Shimura, Orange County Register/SCNG)

Irvine Co.’s rendering of its proposed 250-unit condominium community along Sand Canyon Avenue in Irvine. (Photo by Tomoya Shimura, Orange County Register/SCNG)

Irvine Co.’s map indicates large employers near the former Traveland USA site in Irvine, where the developer wants to build a 1,710-unit apartment complex. (Photo by Tomoya Shimura, Orange County Register/SCNG)

Congestion vs. housing shortage

Some residents at Wednesday’s meeting didn’t buy into the Irvine Co.’s plans and projections.

“Traffic is horrendous in Irvine,” said Lisa Wood, who’s lived in the Orange Tree community for 15 years.

She said it takes 30 minutes to drive 3.7 miles to her office in Irvine at peak hours.

She suggested building less-dense condos instead of the apartments so that young families could buy homes.

Supporters of the project say lower-cost apartments would help alleviate Orange County’s severe housing shortage.

Courtney Santos, a 35-year-old UC Irvine employee who lives in an Irvine Co. apartment, said salary increases don’t keep up with rising rents. Santos said she was hit with another rent increase this month.

“You have to make cuts in your budget like food, a basic necessity,” she said. “Any new housing helps to provide new options to people and to get some people out of overcrowded housing. It makes older units more affordable.”

However, 23-year-old Hope Dorman, who grew up in Irvine and now works in the Spectrum area, said young professionals like herself wouldn’t be able to afford the proposed apartments while trying to save money to buy a house.

Dorman shares a three-bedroom apartment in Irvine with two roommates. If her rent increases, she would have to move out of the city, she said.

She said she wants the Irvine Co. to build more affordable for-sale homes.

“You just feel kind of hopeless,” Dorman said.

Some are worried the project would put a burden on local schools, some of which are already crowded.

According to Irvine Unified School District projections, the proposed apartments would add 273 students to Greentree Elementary School, 68 to Venado Middle School and 120 to Irvine High School.

Venado and Irvine High have the capacity to accommodate the additional students, Irvine Unified spokeswoman Annie Brown said. The district may have to add portable facilities or modular buildings at Greentree, she said.

Irvine Unified receives a state-mandated $3.54 per square foot of residential space from a developer, but doesn’t have the authority to approve or deny the project, district officials said.

The Irvine Co. has been paying community facilities district taxes that go to the school district since 1986, Le Blanc said. The Traveland site is also part of the newly approved $319 million bond district created to improve aging schools.

What’s next?

What could complicate the matter is the county of Orange’s plan to build 2,103 housing units, as well as 220,000 square feet of commercial space and a 242-room hotel, on its narrow strip of land adjacent to the Orange County Great Park. That site is just across the freeways from where the Irvine Co. wants to build the apartments.

Irvine officials call the development a money grab that will congest roads and prevent the development of the Great Park. The county’s development itself could jam I-5, the Sand Canyon Avenue freeway ramps and nearby intersections, according to the Orange County Transportation Authority and Caltrans.

The Irvine council in March voted 3-2 in favor of starting to process the Irvine Co.’s application, with Councilwomen Christina Shea and Melissa Fox opposing.

Fox said Sunday, July 23, she’s still worried the project would exacerbate congestion on city streets and freeway on-ramps, as well as school overcrowding.

“I agree we need more housing in the city, but this is a particularly difficult site,” Fox said.

Those who voted yes at the time said the council can still deny the project if its impacts are insurmountable.

An environmental impact report — which reviews the project’s impact on traffic and schools as well as air quality, noise and more — is expected to be released at the end of the year or early 2018.

Public hearings by the city’s commissions are scheduled in the spring and summer of 2018 before it goes to the council. If approved, the apartments could open in about three years, Irvine Co. officials said.

Le Blanc said it’s “premature” to say whether the Irvine Co. would build offices at the Traveland site if the city denies rezoning it.

In the meantime, the Irvine Co. will continue to host meetings with HOAs. The company on Wednesday also launched a website with information on the apartment project at spectrum7update.com.