Buena Park moves forward with townhomes project near its mall

A lot across the street from the Buena Park Mall that has stayed vacant for the past six years may soon be revived as a new townhome community.

On Aug. 28, the Buena Park Planning Commission considered a proposal to develop 93 Spanish colonial-style townhomes where an Orchard Supply Hardware formerly stood.

The lot is currently being used to warehouse wholesale tile and store Tesla vehicles.

“Vacant land is scarce,” said Chris Courtney, senior project manager for Brandywine Homes. “These types of opportunities are a great solution in providing housing that cities desperately need.”

But the prospects of changing the zoning from commercial to residential to make way for the townhome project has divided residents and advocates.

Paul Buron, a Buena Park resident, spoke in opposition to Brandywine’s proposal at the meeting.

“Do we really need more housing, right now?” he asked commissioners. “You’ve got the big housing going on [at] the Sears lot.”

Buron made reference to the Village, a 1,300-unit housing development at the site of the mall’s abandoned Sears building, which was approved by Buena Park City Council last year.

With hopes of propping up the flagging mall, the Village would also include 126 townhomes for sale.

Across the street from the mall, the Brandywine project is considerably smaller and is even scaled back from the developer’s original proposal for 283 apartments and 1,500 square feet of retail space, after meeting stiff opposition during a community forum last year.

Concerns over traffic, parking and privacy that aired back then resurfaced before the planning commission.

But the project also had its supporters.

Buena Park resident Rebecca Kovacs-Stein pointed to California’s Regional Housing Needs Assessment, or RHNA numbers, as a prime reason why the commission should recommend the townhomes for approval.

Under the current state housing mandates, Buena Park needs to plan for 8,919 units by 2029.

The city exceeded its RHNA numbers under the last housing cycle that ended in 2021 but has a long way to go before meeting its current numbers.

“The lack of parking is not the issue,” Kovacs-Stein said. “The lack of housing in Buena Park is.”

As the project would offer 14 townhomes at moderate affordable housing levels and just two at the low-income tier, Kovacs-Stein advocated for more inclusionary housing in the future.

Elizabeth Hansburg, co-founder and executive director of People for Housing Orange County, also supported the project against its detractors.

“The people that you’re hearing from, who don’t want this project to move forward, are lucky enough to have won the lottery of time,” she said. “They bought their housing when it was much more affordable, compared with wages. That time has passed.”

Commissioners pressed Brandywine and city officials over concerns that parking issues would spill over to neighboring single-family housing tracts.

“The garage is meant for vehicle parking, not for storage,” Courtney said.

Matt Foulkes, Buena Park’s community development director, noted that the city could issue fines against future townhome residents who used their garage for purposes other than parking.

“We can go in and do an inspection,” he said.

Daily fines could escalate to $500.

Commission Chair Mirvette Judeh deemed all comments from residents and advocates as “relevant” to the discussion.

“However, there are state mandates regarding the shortage of housing,” she said. “That is something that every city is struggling with and they’re trying to find additional housing.”

With that, the Planning Commission voted 4-0 to recommend that the zoning changes be approved by the Buena Park City Council.

Mayor Susan Sonne, who represents the council district where the townhomes are being proposed, said that the project would go before her colleagues soon.

“I will work very hard to ensure any project approved at this site is in the best interests of the community,” she said.