The Los Angeles Times from Los Angeles, California • Page 238

B2 THURSDAY, APRIL 18, 1991 DC LOS ANGELES TIMES Orange County Focus mtji warm i iBi iTi iffl (TT.Uia..fciiilM.iirhiiifii Costa Mesa ZJ Newport Beach Irvine Corona del Mar LVlr Mission Viejo El Toro gk Laguna Hills Njl Laguna Niguel 7A Rantho Santa Margarita Kr "San Juan Capistrano SanClemente oasmS nana Point 1 zs Laguna Beach Capistrano Beach KEN HIV ELY Los Angeles Times He loft bank without It Police question an employee, left, of Downey Savings Loan in Costa Mesa after an attempted robbery Wednesday. A gunman handed a teller at the American Express counter a note demanding money but left the building without it. After the 9:30 a.m. incident at the Bristol Street branch, police searched the area but were unable to find the man. said Wednesday.

Kaiser officials said they are looking at South County sites to service a growing clientele that numbers more than 6,000 in Irvine alone. Kaisers only Orange County hospital is in Anaheim and serves 180,000 subscribers county wide. "It is a big growth area and part of our long-term plan is to have two hospitals in Orange County," said Kaiser spokeswoman Amy Baker. But Baker said plans are in the preliminary stages, and she could provide few details on other locations being studied. In addition, because of planning and building requirements, any new hospital is at least 10 to 15 years away from completion, she said.

Irvine City Manager Paul O. Brady Jr. confirmed that three vacant parcels at Alton Parkway and Sand Canyon Avenue have been discussed as possible sites for a new hospital. The land is owned by the Irvine Co. and is located across the street from the new Irvine Medical Center.

"We have told Kaiser and the Irvine Co. that we would look favorably upon continuing discussions, and that to have the Kaiser hospital in town would be a plus to the city," Brady said. "But until we look at particular plans, I can't give any indication of whether it is something we would recommend." Brady noted that the parcels are not zoned but have been identified as suitable sites for a hospital. Kaiser is now constructing a 12-office outpatient complex at Barranca Parkway and East Yale Loop in Irvine that will offer family practice, pediatric, dermatology and radiology services. The complex will eventually be expanded to include 24 providers, Baker said.

Kaiser also has outpatient clinics in Tustin, Mission Viejo and Santa Ana and a mental health facility in Laguna Hills. CARLA RIVERA IRVINE Northwood Village Project Hearings Set The Irvine proposal to build 2,885 homes that would extend the current Northwood Village on the northern outskirts of the city will have its first major public hearing tonight before the Planning Commission. Another Irvine Co. subdivision, the Westpark II approved by the City Council last December, is stalled by a referendum that will let voters decide the fate of the project in November. The slow-growth group that led that opposition, Irvine Tomorrow, will also be keeping an eye on the proposed Northwood project, chairman Christopher B.

Mears said Wednesday. "We have enormous concern with that development," Mears said, since it will destroy an orange grove and replace it with thousands of homes. The proposal before the Planning Commission's 6 p.m. meeting calls for a 416-acre community with a mixture of single-family homes, townhouses and apartments. Areas would be set aside for a school, parks, church, a child-care center, park-and-ride site and a commercial center.

The current proposal is a compromise between the project submitted by the Irvine Co. and modifications recommended by city planners after a three-year review process that is typical for a project of this size. Initially, the Irvine Co. opposed adding a commercial center. But the company changed its mind after residents of the existing Northwood Village and city planners requested one, according to Keith Greer, president of the Irvine residential building division.

The center is now planned for the southeast corner of the future intersection of Culver Drive and Portola Parkway. As part of the project, the Irvine Co. would build the proposed Portola Parkway to link Jamboree and Jeffrey roads. Portola would run along the northern boundary of the project. The proposed village, which has been dubbed Northwood 5 because it is inside the city's planning area No.

5, is just outside of Irvine's city limits but within the area destined to become a part of the city. The land likely would be annexed once plans for the village are approved. As proposed, three-fourths of North-wood 5 would contain houses and town-houses ranging in price from about $500,000 for the houses with larger lots to about $250,000 for the townhouses, Greer said. Although the Irvine Co. and city planners have worked out most differences concerning Northwood 5, some such as affordable housing requirements are still being studied, said Stephanie Keys, an Irvine senior planner.

The city's planning goals propose that 25 of the homes in each new village should be affordable to families earning 80 or less of the county's median income, which is $56,380 for 1991 as predicted by the Chapman College Center for Economic Research. But to what extent those goals are translated into ORANGE Shelter for Women, Children Approved After months of negotiations and emotional public hearings, the Orange County Rescue Mission won approval from the City Council this week to build a shelter for homeless women and children in Old Towne. Despite strong opposition from some neighbors and preservationists, council members voted unanimously to approve House of Hope, a transitional home that will provide shelter, job training and other services for up to 20 women. "It's a dream come true," said John Lands, president of the rescue mission. "We've been working on this since 1985.

We're very excited and ready to proceed. I think we're going to be very good neighbors, and other residents will find that out." The project will be the fourth and largest group home run by the mission in the county. The site, at 357-373 S. Lemon will replace Potter's Church and two homes. Lands said he expects to break ground in September, with construction scheduled to be completed in early 1993.

During a lVS-fcour public hearing, most project opponents said they did not object to having a shelter in their neighborhood, but argued that the two-story, structure would aggravate the parking, traffic and overcrowding problems that plague the southwest quadrant of the historic Old Towne district. LAGUNA NIGUEL Campaign to Recall Councilman Dies A recall campaign aimed at unseating City Councilman Paul M. Christiansen was thwarted Wednesday when its supporters failed to file the required petition by the 5 p.m. deadline. The failure marks the end of a recall effort that at one time targeted all five members of the City Council.

The effort was sparked by a controversial ridge-line protection ordinance endorsed by 4,000 city voters last fall. The four other council members were targeted as a group when they refused to approve or place the ordinance on the ballot. The recall effort against them died in March, also because of a lack of signatures. Christiansen, who never openly declared support for the ordinance, was targeted for recall because he allegedly endorsed it "behind the scenes," said Susan Penney, leader of the recall effort. She accused him of "malfeasance." She added that while her move to unseat Christiansen officially died Wednesday, it was actually killed several weeks ago.

"It was a very low-key effort," Penney, a 12-year Laguna Niguel resident and manager of a travel agency, said of the recall drive. "We had actually stopped soliciting signatures quite some time ago. I had come to the conclusion that the community and the city did not need any more negative publicity circulated, regardless of my feelings about Paul." Christiansen said he is happy that the recall campaign is over. "We can now move to more positive and productive community business," he said after hearing of the recall's failure Wednesday. LEN HALL LAGUNA BEACH Sewer Service to Smithcliffs Blocked Continuing a battle among Laguna Beach, the Irvine Ranch Water District and a land developer, the City Council this week blocked plans for a controversial bluff-top development by refusing to clear the way for sewer service to the project.

The council's action Tuesday was the latest in a series of attempts by the city to thwart plans to build 26 homes at Smithcliffs, a 10.4-acre bluff-top parcel next to Laguna Beach. The council has long maintained that the land should be annexed by Laguna Beach because the city would have to provide a variety of services for the new community. But the project's developer, Brinderson Real Estate Group, rejected the city's pleas and instead allowed the Irvine Ranch Water District to annex the land so it can provide the necessary HENRY DlltOCCO ForTheTlmes Department and the Rotary Club. Carol Gibson of the Community Services Department said the softball tournament has grown into a community wide event. Several local groups donate money to sponsor the tournament, including a business that provides umpires and city officials who help with coordination.

GARY AMBROSE Los Angeles Times Accused officer San Clemente Police Officer David Wayne Bryan, now on suspension, stands during Municipal Court arraignment in Laguna Niguel on rape and assault charges. Arraignment was postponed until April 25 for Bryan, who faces 13 counts. He is free on $50,000 ball. sewer service. But sewer lines leading to the property are owned by Laguna Beach, which has refused to let the water district use the pipes to service Smithcliffs.

The council's unanimous vote Tuesday was a stinging rejection of agreements drawn up between the county and several local water agencies that would have allowed the Irvine district to use the city's sewer lines. After the vote, Peer Swan, president of the Irvine Ranch Water District, said the council's action was a "blatant misuse of public funds" because the city may now have to defend its decision in court. "This city doesn't believe in property rights," Swan said. "They've just frittered away a little bit more taxpayers' money." In February, the city filed suit against the county seeking to overturn a string of decisions by the Board of Supervisors, the Local Agency Formation Commission and the Irvine Ranch Water District that paved the way for the project. City Manager Kenneth C.

Frank said Laguna Beach filed suit because the city would have been forced to provide the development with police, fire and emergency medical services while being denied property tax revenues, which Frank said should be more than $100,000 a year. "That's what the city should get because we're going to be stuck providing the services," he said. "There's no reason for the Irvine Ranch Water District to be involved in this project whatsoever." A spokesman for the project developer said earlier this week that a veto of the agreements by the City Council would not be a surprise and would not stop the project. "The easiest way to proceed is to use the city's sewer line," Steven Fink said. "But it's not the only way." LESLIE EARNEST "A lot of cities do not offer programs for the disabled, so this is our contribution," Gibson said.

"The participants love it." The softball tournament was one of 22 Special Olympics events scheduled this year in the county. LYNDA NATALI SANTA ANA 9 Pay Increase for City Manager OKd The City Council this week approved a 9 pay raise for City Manager David N. Ream his third raise in just over a year. The 5-2 vote in favor of the raise increases Ream's annual salary to $135,996. The pay raise, the third for Ream since Jan.

1, 1990, was the first he has requested since taking over the city's top administrative post almost five years ago. The other raises were automatic cost-of-living increases, Ream said. With the new pay hike, Ream said, his salary ranks third in the county behind those of the city managers of Anaheim and Irvine, even though Santa Ana is the county's largest city. Two of the seven council members, John Acosta and Richards L. Norton, voted against the pay raise, claiming that Ream refuses to work with them.

"The city manager only serves the council members that he wants to serve, and they want to perpetuate him and I understand that," Norton said. But "I can't get him to return my phone calls." GEBE MARTINEZ LEMON HEIGHTS PROPOSED EASTERN CORRIDOR Los Angeles Times requirements is expected to be a major point of discussion during the hearings. Affordable-housing requirements were a point of contention during the Planning Commission and City Council hearings on Westpark II last year. There will be three or so public hearings for Northwood 5 conducted by the Planning Commission, including two next month. The commission's recommended changes for the village will then go to the City Council for consideration.

TOM McQUEENEY IRVINE Kaiser Weighs Sites for a New Hospital Irvine is among several South County areas being considered for a major new Kaiser Permanente hospital, officials Robert Boice, president of the Old Towne Preservation said the project symbolized overdevelopment and the need to reduce density in Old Towne. "It's not easy to speak out against a project like this," Boice said. "But the building impacts a quadrant that is heavily impacted already. It's time to say, -MARY HELEN BERG FOUNTAIN VALLEY 400 Play Softball in Special Olympics More than 400 county athletes competed Wednesday for top honors in the sixth annual Special Olympics softball competition at Mile Square Park. Eighteen teams squared off, with the top scorers scheduled to attend the state finals in June at UCLA.

Starting in the morning, the athletes-teamed by age and ability filled the Fountain Valley Recreation Center's baseball fields at the park. Madeline Evans, director of the Orange County Special Olympics, said the event AtibiM COUNTY NT I PROPOSED I St SUBDIVISION vf Ratttesnako IRVINE 1 NS PROPOSED PORTOU PKWT rJPl "Tustin tF "Orange "Santa Ana Garden Grove A Westminster "Fountain Valley V. "Villa Park "Midway City A Placentia Unified School District team shows off its division first-place trophy. From left: Matt Houghton, Lance Bickford, Mamie Hasty and Brian Wessell. is more than just.

fun for participants, it also boosts their confidence. "The self-esteem is fantastic," she said. "They now have something of their own, a ribbon or trophy to talk about at the dinner table." The event was co-sponsored by the Fountain Valley Community Services.