www.WestCoyoteHills.org

Look for new content there by the end of January.

Your back yard could harbor a deadly threat to the California citrus industry (photo credit/Cindy Cotter)

If you’ve got an orange or lemon tree in your yard, then you are part of California’s first line of defense against a plant disease that threatens not only your tree but the entire state’s citrus industry.

The disease, citrus greening, is spread by a small insect known as the Asian citrus psyllid.  Psyllids that have not been infected by the disease are a minor pest, but if a psyllid feeds on an infected tree, it will carry citrus greening disease to other trees. The fruit of an infected tree is ruined and the tree itself eventually dies. Until then, it acts like a reservoir of disease, infecting other psyllids and, through them, other trees.

Citrus greening has devastated the citrus industry in Florida and has spread to other states in the citrus belt. The first psyllids in Orange County were found in Santa Ana last week. They were disease free. Monday the first Los Angeles County psyllid was discovered in Echo Park. It’s being tested for the citrus greening. In both cases, the insects were found in private homes, not commercial orchards. That’s typical, and it’s why homeowners should be alert for this pest.

Information for homeowners: Citrus Research Board

Los Angeles Times, Aug. 25: Psyllids found in Orange County

Los Angeles Times, Aug 27: Psyllid found in L.A.

– Cindy Cotter

Amy Hemsley of La Mirada leading a TEA Party at the corner of Beach and Imperial in La Habra on July 4, 2009 (photo credit/Cindy Cotter)

Amy Hemsley is at it again.

Right-leaning activists will march on Washington D.C. on Sept. 12 protesting high taxes and big government.

Organizers of the march are urging local sympathizers to hold TEA (Taxed Enough Already) Parties all over the country.

Hemsley is recruiting concerned locals to bring their flags and protest signs and join her on the corner of Beach Blvd. and Imperial Hwy. in La Habra at 9 a.m.

“We are the People the Constitution speaks of,” she wrote in an email Monday.

“If we don’t stand for our country, who will?”

Read about Hemsley’s July 4 TEA Party: TEA Party on the Fourth

Follow Hemsley on Twitter: AllAmericanAmy

A partisan view of the TEA Party Movement: 9.12.09 March on Washington

A view from the middle: What Is Behind These Tea Parties

–Cindy Cotter

People gather in front of Our Lady of Guadalupe Church on La Habra Blvd. in La Habra to watch the Corn Festival Parade, Aug. 8, 2009 (Photo credit/Cindy Cotter)

… to watch Shriners in little cars…

Shriner in a miniature car at the La Habra Corn Festival Parade on Aug. 8, 2009 (Photo credit/Cindy Cotter)

… marching bands…

Santa Ana Winds Youth Band at the Corn Festival Parade in La Habra on Aug. 8, 2009 (Photo credit/Cindy Cotter)

… horses…

A rider for Rancho La Laguna in the Corn Festival parade in La Habra on Aug. 8, 2009 (Photo credit/Cindy Cotter)

…dancers…

Dancers representing the Bolivian contingent in La Habra's Corn Festival parade on Aug. 8, 2009 (Photo credit/Cindy Cotter)

… costumes…

A costumed marcher in La Habra's Corn Festival parade on Aug 8, 2009 (Photo credit/Cindy Cotter)

… and floats.

A float from Corona Dance Studio at the La Habra Corn Festival Parade on Aug. 9, 2009 (Photo credit/Cindy Cotter)

Finally the parade was done. The clean-up crew went to work…

A worker cleans up after La Habra's Corn Festival parade on Aug. 8, 2009 (Photo credit/Cindy Cotter)

… and everyone went home.

Onlookers leave after La Habra's Corn Festival parade on Aug. 8, 2009 (Photo credit/Cindy Cotter)

–Cindy Cotter

Old headline: “Don’t Like the Traffic? Move, Says Commissioner”
New headline: “Don’t Like the Traffic? Move!

Commissioner Duvignau didn’t say that people who don’t like increased traffic in their neighborhoods should move. He said HE is going to move. That seemed to me like a suggestion that other people could do the same, but that was only my interpretation, and it may have been wrong.

Here are Duvignau’s words, in context: “Our city is growing, whether we hate it or we love it. I personally love this city. I’ve been here, I dunno, 15 or 18 years, and I don’t want to move. I want to stay here. But I have to understand that, you know, the city is changing. My kids won’t see the Williams Army Surplus Store that was down the street. You know, it’s a bar now. We have to live with it. I live on Acacia on some low-income housing and Acacia will now be a route… State College will close in the next year — I’m not sure how many of you know that — in order to make it a crossing for the railroads so that we can have better traffic flow. I have to deal with Raymond and State College closing and traffic going down Acacia. I don’t like it, so I’m gonna move. I have that option. I live in an apartment. I understand that, and it’s different. But whatever the outcome here is tonight, our city is changing and we’re gonna have to adjust with it.”

I apologize for any confusion that may have been caused by a post disappearing and reappearing with new Web address, and I apologize if I, however briefly, misrepresented the intent behind Commissioner Duvignau’s words.

–Cindy Cotter

Cars moving south on Beach Blvd. at Imperial Hwy. in La Habra, Aug. 3, 2009 (Photo/Cindy Cotter)

Fullerton’s Transportation and Circulation Commission voted to recommend the West Coyote Hills development plan last night. Commissioner Jay Park was absent and Johnnie Simmons cast the only dissenting vote.

Traffic was the big issue. Some said there would be no significant increase, others that any increase would not be a problem, and still others that increased traffic would destroy the quality of life in the region. Commissioner Edmundo Duvignau, who chaired the meeting, offered his own traffic solution. He’s going to move.

Joan Wolff, consultant city planner, said the project could be expected to generate 8584 trips daily, affecting traffic throughout the city.

Jim Pugliese, project manager with the developer, said the city’s traffic study showed the development would have no significant impact on traffic, but during the public comment session, several residents were skeptical.

Winnie Hopkins, a Fullerton resident, said the Amerige development had increased traffic in her neighborhood.

“Each time one of these developments comes, it’s like a drop in a bucket,” she said. “Overnight your bucket’s full. I feel like we’re full. We’ve had it. … Is there any point they will say, ‘Hey, we can’t take any more cars!’? … When will this stop? Will we ever stop adding cars to our street?”

Chris McCarthy, a La Habra resident, pointed out that traffic increases won’t be confined to Fullerton.

“After the Coyote Hills La Habra homes were built and when the Beach/Imperial businesses opened, the traffic could back up on Imperial Highway… nearly to Euclid,” she said. “The traffic was horrendous. … My short commute doubled. … It’s of great concern to me what the main arteries of the area will daily experience when you have over 8000 additional drivers starting out to use these businesses. … It’s only going to get worse. … The traffic is going to be really bad and it is going to change the quality of our lives.”

Cars fill the left turn lane on Beach Blvd., with Westridge shopping center and the Coyote Hills in the background on Aug. 3, 2009 (Photo/Cindy Cotter)

After an hour and 15 minutes of public comment by 17 residents who largely opposed development, the commission briefly discussed the issue and reached agreement in less than 15 minutes.

Commissioner Edmundo Duvignau, who chaired the meeting, did not deny that increased traffic could be a problem, but said, “Our city is changing and we’re gonna have to adjust with it.”

He’s expecting increased traffic on the street where he lives, due to other development projects.

“I don’t like it so I’m gonna move,” he said. “I have that option.”

David Rizzo moved that the current plan be found adequate, though perhaps not ideal, in the question of traffic and circulation. All members present agreed except Johnnie Simmons, who, when asked by Duvignau if she had any comments, said only, “I have a problem with the traffic. I do not think it meets the criterion stated here.”

–Cindy Cotter

Joan Wolff, city planner, addresses Energy Resource Management Committee, Fullerton, 7/29/09

Asked by planning staff to consider two questions regarding development, the committee agreed 6-4 that the plan protects and conserves natural resources, but concerns about water issues led to a nearly unanimous recommendation that further attempts be made by city planners and Chevron to increase the sustainability of the project. Gus Lucero cast the only vote in favor of the sustainability of the plan as it stands. Committee member Anthony Roberts was not present.

This was the second of three committee meetings intended to gather information and recommendations for the City Council which will decide later this year whether to allow Chevron to build on the played-out oil fields. The size of the audience has been dropping. About 45 people attended the meeting last night, down from roughly 75 present at the Parks and Recreation Department meeting Monday, and the nearly 200 people at the July 8 informational meeting.

Though the audience was smaller, they were no less attentive, many taking notes to prepare remarks for the public comment period, which consumed about an hour of the three-hour meeting.

Wendell Hanks of La Mirada taking notes at the Energy Resource Management Committee meeting in Fullerton on July 29, 2009

Committee chairman Patrick McNelly pointed out that the ERMC has only an advisory role, and urged concerned citizens to attend the Planning Commission meeting.

“We’re simply an advisory group.  We don’t have any decision-making power whatsoever. We certainly don’t have the kind of weight that the Planning Commission does,” he said.

He was nonetheless impressed that the committee had been asked to consider the matter at all.

“We’re not asked to review every development that comes before City Council,” he said. “We were asked, and for the first time that I can remember being on this committee — and I’ve been on this committee going on 11 years the first time and eight the second time — so nearly 20 years service on this kind of a group, I’ve never seen us get involved at this level of a community issue in terms of development. Ever before.”

At this point I’ll insert an editorial comment:  At last night’s meeting I was struck once again by the fact that although this issue has raised a great deal of public interest and prompted more that the usual amount of negotiation, consultation and planning, I have heard surprisingly little discussion about Fullerton’s housing needs at the three meetings I’ve attended.  Shouldn’t that be a priority when the matter under consideration is residential development?  I have the sense that the strong opposition by those with environmental concerns (and I share those concerns) has dominated thinking to the extent that questions about housing — other than how those houses will affect the environment — have been left by the wayside.  People are for the project because it will open up recreational trails and an interpretive center, or they oppose it because it will degrade the environment.

Who speaks to the housing issue?

-Cindy Cotter

Note: This is a restoration of a post that was inadvertently deleted.

About 75 people attended a meeting of the Parks and Recreation Commission which was charged with making a recommendation to the City Council regarding Pacific Coast Homes’s planned development of its land in West Coyote Hills. Pacific Coast is a subsidiary of Chevron, who once pumped oil from the land but now wishes to turn it to other uses. In exchange for permission to build houses, the developer has worked with representatives of various community interests to devise a plan that includes open space, parks, trails, viewpoints and an interpretive center. Development has been opposed by organized resistance from community members who would prefer to leave all the land undeveloped.

Tonight’s meeting began with a recap by Joan Wolff, city consultant planner, of the presentation she made at an earlier meeting on July 8, and continued with a description of the recreational aspects of the plan by Jim Pugliese, a project manager representing Pacific Coast Homes. Citizen comments and questions took an hour, with roughly an even balance between those who favored development and those who opposed it.

Then the commission members discussed a variety of issues.  Would there be sufficient parking? Should the interpretive center be built on the opposite side of Euclid? Was a lighted athletic field a good idea? What material would be used to surface the trails?

In the end the only significant point of disagreement was the endowment Chevron promised to fund maintenance of the recreational areas that would be given to the city.  The endowment would be sum of money donated to the city sufficient to pay for maintenance forever if invested at a reasonable rate of return. Shawna Adam was concerned that if the endowment failed to provide the necessary funds, the city would be on the hook for all costs.  Joe Felz, director of Parks and Recreation, confirmed that the city couldn’t afford that, though he pointed out that other city facilities (like the library and the Muckenthaler Center) are supported by endowments.

Finally all members present (Sueling Chen was absent) said they favored the plan, feeling the city was being given a real gift by Chevron since the land is their property, but Shawna Adam and Kathleen Shanfield were sufficiently concerned about the possible failure of the endowment that they voted against the recommendation anyway.

Development of West Coyote Hills goes slowly

The City of Fullerton will hold a series of public meetings to discuss the proposed development of West Coyote Hills.

The fate of the former oil fields has been in contention since the 1970’s. The developer, Pacific Coast Homes, has been working with a citizen’s group to refine their concept, while Friends of Coyote Hills, a community group, opposes development.

There was an informational meeting July 8 (see link below). Three additional meetings are planned, each with a different focus. All will be held in the city hall council chambers at 303 W. Commonwealth Ave. in Fullerton:

• Monday, July 27, 6:30 p.m.
Parks and Recreation Commission
• Wednesday, July 29, 6:30 p.m.
Energy Resource Management Committee
• Monday, August 3, 6:30 p.m.
Traffic and Circulation Commission

For information, call Joan Wolff, consultant planner to the City of Fullerton, at (714) 738-6837.

Links:

The city plan
The developer’s perspective
Video of the July 8 meeting (under Community Workshops)
Friends of Coyote Hills
The Sierra Club
My reaction to the July 8 meeting (What about Housing?)
A walk in the hills (audio slideshow)

Jesus and his family eat at Boston Donuts four or five times a week

“It’s a happy place,” said Mary, as she sat at the counter chatting with Don, another regular customer, and Mina, who’s been working there for 14 years.

The store was built in 1979. In 1987 Stephen Hong’s uncle bought it and Hong left college to fly to Boston for training  to turn it into a Dunkin Donuts.

Most of their profit comes from coffee, not doughnuts which are labor intensive with a low profit margin. Dunkin Donuts is noted for its  coffee, so when the Hongs broke away from the franchise in 1994, they renamed the shop Boston Donuts and Steve bought a coffee roaster and flew to San Francisco to learn how to use it.  He’s been roasting his own beans ever since.

Stephen Hong roasts his own beans at Boston Donuts

Mary and Don continued their discussion, touching on Obama and the California budget.  But the next day, when I asked Hong about the effects of the economy on his business, his answer was more local and immediate.  He has customers who are dependent on the construction industry and haven’t been getting much work.

“I’ve known them for 10 or 15 years, so I give them free coffee,” he said.

Recently a Corner Bakery opened just across the street, but Hong said that hasn’t affected his business.  He was worried when the first Krispy Kreme in California debuted just down the street in 1999, but he needn’t have been.  Krispy Kreme didn’t make it in La Habra. The store is now a Chick-fil-A.

Boston Donuts may not have a large bankroll, a fancy decor, or a national reputation, but it’s got good doughnuts, good coffee, and something else that counts for a lot.

“I call this the Cheers coffee shop,” said Mary.  “You know?  ‘The place where everybody knows your name.‘”

Boston Donuts
1151 W Imperial Hwy
La Habra, CA 90631
(714) 992-2561