Opponents of a proposed condominium project across from the Discovery Cube-OC children’s museum convinced Santa Ana City Council members to back off on its approval, but a judge overseeing a related lawsuit may have the last word, according to one councilman.
In January, the city council approved the Addington Project at 2525 N. Main St., prompting a referendum from opponents to block it.
On Tuesday, the council had three choices: overturn the earlier approval of the project, call for a referendum in the November election, or call for a special election on the referendum. The council voted 6-0 to overturn its earlier approval of the project.
Councilman Jose Solorio, who is running for mayor, said he abstained from the vote because of a lawsuit challenging the referendum.
Solorio said the developer’s lawsuit calls into question the validity of some names in the referendum petition. Also, issues have been raised about whether a proper, state-required environmental impact report was done for the project, he said.
“Because of the coronavirus (pandemic), the judge hasn’t been able to hear out these issues, and that’s the best place to vet some of these things,” Solorio told City News Service.
Solorio and others have raised issues about whether some signatures were turned in past a deadline for the referendum.
The judge could overrule the council’s vote, Solorio said.
“The judge didn’t envision the council would take action before he ruled on it,” Solorio said. “It is still very possible the judge may say those (petition for referendum) forms were not turned in on time and there were other defects to the process and the city should not take action based off of those petitions.”
An 81,172-square-foot office building and 442-space parking lot would be demolished to make way for the project on 5.93 acres. Plans call for 277,281 square feet of residential buildings, a 167,253-square-foot parking structure, and 284-space lot for residential and commercial parking.