Echoes of the dust-up over 4 Orion could be heard Wednesday night during the Aliso Viejo City Council meeting. The proposal would turn an empty commercial lot near Aliso Viejo Christian School into high-density housing.
By state law, the city must find room for hundreds of low-income homes, but with 95 percent of Aliso Viejo built out, options are scarce.
Opponents say rezoning 4 Orion would lower nearby home values, increase traffic and negatively affect the nearby school and church. Some opponents feel they were not adequately involved in the decision-making process, perhaps on purpose.
Resident Andrea Mueller asked each council member to visit homes near 4 Orion to see how high-density apartments would affect her neighborhood.
But City Attorney Scott Smith said doing so could easily lead to violations of the state's Brown Act, a 1953 law that guarantees the right to public participation and open civic meetings. Violating the law could lead to lawsuits, something the council is particularly sensitive to following lawsuit threats in 2011 based on a recreation ad hoc committee.
This led to an unusual council decision. With homeowners' consent, the council voted unanimously to hold a meeting in affected neighbors' backyards.
The idea came from Mayor Carmen Cave. She asked Smith:
What would it take to schedule a publicly noticed meeting at their houses so that all of the council members could attend, understanding that if the council was there, the public could also show up?" (quiet laughter) "The press could be there, any member of the public could be there."
Smith said city staff could coordinate such a meeting with homeowners, and a few of the homeowners, including Mueller, accepted.
"I think they'll be surprised by what they see," Mueller said.
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