The Red Oak
As a professional botanist I was quite interested and amused by the name of the developers of the proposed multi-family monster on Commonwealth Avenue. Red Oaks Investment. Why? Because the red oak is native to the Midwest and eastern United States.
Okay. Got it. An out-of -town developer with the name of a non-indigenous tree foists a massive project on the populace in an environment where it doesn’t belong.
You know, in Fullerton these days that sort of makes sense.
How come so many of the articles here are about trees?
Trees are very important.
He’s a botanist. Tress are important to botanists.
All of these Planning Commissioner letters look really suspicious. It seems like they were collected on the same notepad by an itinerant salesman.
https://www.cityoffullerton.com/civicax/filebank/blobdload.aspx?BlobID=24374
Most of the support seems to come from:
Illiterate apartment dwellers
Assistant manager of a nearby dojo
Manager of a nearby Pizza Hut
Manager of a nearby El Pollo Loco
A bunch of people a mile away in downtown Fullerton.
I wonder if there is a local bag man/lobbyist involved.
You wonder?
Scott Starkey, his brother, Steve Sheldon, or alike.
It’s painfully obvious that the developer held a meeting and sold a bill of goods to a large group of naive people who live nearby. Let’s face it, compared to the apartments that are already down there, the “Velocity” is a big, shiny object that has grabbed their imagination, several of them even characterized the project as “luxury apartments.” Nearly all of the letters support the project, with comments like “I think it’s a good idea to build new stuff around us.” and “Build away.” (Seriously, if you haven’t read them yet, you should!)
Of course local businesses are in favor simply because they foresee more potential customers, that’s all they care about. Out of the many letters collected, only two made any sense to me, one from Dan Froberg who elicited many detailed reasons why this monstrosity should be abandoned, and Marlene Halverson who asks Janet Ragland, “Why are you ruining our city???”
These people did not attend a meeting. A nice man in a suit came to their door and told them what to write.
Marcellus,
100% with you. It looks like big lobbying by Fullerton Positive “a proactive supporter of economic developer and encourages open communication between the public and private sector for the benefit of the community”
Has there been a public meeting here where the ones in favor and against could be heard? When people write down on a notepad “yes, I want luxury apartments”, it gives you a good idea on what is going on. What do you expect? The city just had a mayor coming from the lobbying industry
Did the city send letters to all neighbors and have a meeting scheduled allowing the public to speak?
Look at the Fullerton Positive letter from the link. The chairman of this lobby is Rick Price, former member of Fullerton Planning Commission for 5 years. A lawyer and business real estate expert. Fullerton Positive mission statement is “economic development for the benefit of the community “
“Fullerton Positive” is just a Fifth Column for the development interests. Every stooge with 5 cents in the pot is part of the effort. It’s like a Chamber of Commerce version of NUFF.
Dick Price? Dick Crane? Dick Jones (2)? Dick Ackerman?
Why does Fullerton have so many Dicks?
Dick Ackerman lives in Irvine.
‘Got it. An out-of -town developer with the name of a non-indigenous tree foists a massive project on the populace in an environment where it doesn’t belong.’ That about sums it up – people who don’t live here introduce a non-indigenous invasive ‘life form’ that smothers out the existing ‘life style’ and changes the landscape forever. Not only do the developers lack interest in quality of life in Fullerton, the majority of the apartment residents view the apartment as a place to be on the way from point A to point B. They have no long term interest in Fullerton’s quality of life.
Maybe it’s time to leave,
Got it! You do not have any clue. Homestead Apartments being in Fullerton for decades . Self-called “luxury living” . Very expensive rent. Air conditioning so old and inadequate that tenants get sick on Summer hot days. Cars broken up at the parking lot. To be sure, a very profitable corporation. Do you have any clue as to what you are talking about?
This will be approved 5-0.
Sebourn and Whitaker will mumble something about property rights. Fitzgerald and Silva will say we neeeeed housing. Chafee will say he wants Fullerton to be “business friendly.”
Meantime we’re the ones who are going to get the business.