Lake Forest’s Meadows Residential Community is set to add more housing to its neighborhoods after early plans for a new school were nixed.
The Lake Forest City Council, in a split vote, approved the construction of approximately 70 single-family homes in an area that was originally designated for an elementary school. The council changed the site to be zoned for a low-density residential neighborhood which, according to the city’s land use and design plan, consists of single-family houses and accessory buildings at a maximum of seven units per acre of land.
With this addition, the number of single-family homes in the Meadows Residential Community will total 611, according to a staff presentation.
Toll Brothers, the developers of the Meadows community, originally planned for a school site to be built in the neighborhood, but it had to be agreed upon by Saddleback Valley Unified School District. If Saddleback Valley Unified denied the new school — which it did in March — the developers were contractually allowed to use the site to build more homes.
During the Dec. 5 meeting, Councilmember Benjamin Yu was the only one in opposition to the new housing proposal. He said councilmembers should spend additional time to determine the impacts of not adding a school in the community.
“At the council meeting, we had an uproar from owners of the Meadows community, especially among certain minority or immigrant groups,” said Yu. “It was raised to a level of concern where I hope some constructive dialogue may open between residents and Toll Brothers to address it, in addition to more time to investigate residents’ claims.”
Alongside a residential track, the initial Meadows project proposed a new elementary school to be built in the middle of the neighborhood. The preliminary plans said the school would accommodate up to 1,000 students from kindergarten to sixth grade across multiple buildings with outside sports courts, fields and parking…
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