Planners approve Caliber project

The Planning Commission approved a new Caliber Mo tors showroom in Anaheim Hills on Monday, but asked the owners for major architectural revisions. Commissioners asked Caliber's architect to revise plans for a two-story, showroom and to turn the reflective glass box into something more aesthetically compatible with the surrounding community. They moved the project ahead on the condition that the building is completely redesigned. "Maybe there is something we can do architecturally because I'd hate to see this thing go by the wayside," Commissioner Jerry Connell said. Planning commissioners asked the architect to make it look more like the Kaiser Medical building at SaviRanch, which is a combination of green glass and stone. The City Council will review the proposals in January. If approved, Caliber could be doing business along the River side (91) Freeway by next sum mer. It will be an $8 million to $10 million project, said Don Bering, Caliber's chief financial officer. The two-story building will be 32 feet tall.' Rooftop utilities, which were to have added an additional 10 feet to the structure, would be housed in side it. Commissioners approved the project even though only Caliber staff members spoke in favor of it and 661 signatures opposing it were received by the Planning Department. Melissa Monk-Turney, who bought a home in the Canyon Oaks development immediately adjacent to the proposed dealership, recently said she was unaware of the project at the time. "Did I know that there was going to be a car lot there?" she asked commissioners. "No. I as a homeowner did not have to sign a disclosure. I moved (to the Canyon Oaks development) to get away from the train noise (elsewhere in Anaheim Hills)." Now Monk-Turney is troubled by the thought of 200 trucks passing along her property line daily while the dealership is being built. "Construction emissions would exceed the Southern California Air Quality Management District's threshold for nitrogen oxides and particulate matter during construction days," she said. She is also concerned about the loss of habitat for 11 bird species with special status and the loss of breeding grounds for the Cooper's Hawk, white-tailed kite, California horned lark, loggerhead strike and the burrowing owl. Cheryl Thompson, a representative of D.R. Horton, developers of Canyon Oaks, said homebuyers were notified as soon as the developer became aware of the project. "This is not what we want to see in Anaheim Hills," said Stefanie O'Neill, president of the Concerned Citizens of the Canyon. "But this land will not remain undeveloped. The owners have a right to make income off of their land. "Since houses cannot be built and the city refuses to make it a park, it will be utilized for some sort of commercial use. If not this cardealership, then perhaps a strip mall or office building." O'Neill said that could potentially have more of a negative impact than a car dealer ship. Mark Messia, a 20-year resident of Anaheim Hills, said the land was supposed to have been a green belt. "I don't know of one resident who is interested in having a car lot there," he said. "I used to be a car salesman with Yeakle Brothers when I was a teen-ager. I don't care what you call it, a car lot is a car lot and it should be in an industrial area." Caliber Motors' executives have long desired freeway exposure and they reminded commissioners that Caliber sells about $200 million worth of cars annually and generates about $1 million in sales tax revenue for the city. "The city would like it for the money," Messia said. "But I am diametrically opposed to this as are most of the residents." Bering said Caliber needs that land because it is losing one of its showrooms at 5401 E. La Palma Ave. "Our landlord did not to re new our lease," Bering said. "The Land Rover dealership will be expanding there." The Anaheim Hills Citizens Coalition also opposes the plan. Sonya Grewal, citing restrictions placed on people who have built other commercial facilities in the canyon area, said Caliber "is asking for waivers not granted to others." In the end, however, com missioners did require several restrictions. They asked that lighting poles not exceed 12 feet in height near the adjacent homes and be brought down from the proposed 24 feet to. lf I to 18 feet elsewhere on the lot. They also made it clear that signs were not to be lighted except during business hours. Caliber had previously stated that no outdoor music would be played and that no loudspeakers would be used for paging. Commissioner Paul Bostwick said that the landscaping could provide suffer from freeway noise. "If there is a benefit to this project, it is that having the landscaping along that wall is the best sound buffer. Trees. Trees. Trees. It's the best sound buffer you can have."