The city of Stanton is reaching out to the community, bringing council meetings to residents as part of its "Neighbor-to-Neighbor" program.
Newly-named Mayor Rigoberto "Rigo" Ramirez said, "At the end of a long day, it's a challenge to grab your keys and head out to a council meeting to share your thoughts with City Council and staff."
So, the City Council has implemented a bringing City Hall to the streets program, "Which has been a great success," Ramirez said.
The city of Stanton is reaching out to the community, bringing council meetings to residents as part of its "Neighbor-to-Neighbor" program.
Newly-named Mayor Rigoberto "Rigo" Ramirez said, "At the end of a long day, it's a challenge to grab your keys and head out to a council meeting to share your thoughts with City Council and staff."
So, the City Council has implemented a bringing City Hall to the streets program, "Which has been a great success," Ramirez said.
Ramirez said the goal is to connect council, city staff and police services with each of the Stanton neighborhoods and to listen to what matters to those residents.
With that in mind, the five council members, staff and police, headed out to the Kermore Lane, Kennan Place and Lowden Street neighborhoods recently and met in the front yard of 7131 Kermore Lane.
That area, which many might not know, is a long-row of dog kennels, with several having been sold recently. The kennels on Kermore are grandfathered in and can be sold as a kennel as a business in Stanton.
Recently, a group of dog kennels were sold where 20 new single-family and affordable homes will be built; the demolition process of old kennels on that site has began behind walls of green fence.
The city of Stanton recently, at the request of the County of Orange, annexed this part of county property that is within Stanton city limits.
Councilwoman Carol Warren said the city of Stanton prefers single-family homes rather than apartment buildings in that area.
Councilman Dave Shawver said the city is asking for double the amount of parking in newly-developed areas so parking doesn't become an issue.
The older homes are currently on an early septic-tank system, which the city will now change to a sewer system to be more efficient.
"We are going to be doing what needs to be done," Shawver said, as he addressed residents attending that neighborhood meeting. "For a period of time, residents will have the option of connecting to the new sewer or not connecting."
The city is going to lay an 8-inch sewer pipe down the middle of the street. Laterals leading to each residence will be the individual responsibility of the home owners.
The way this sewer system is being handled is the same way all sewer systems throughout Stanton have always been handled, with the city laying the main sewer pipe and residents paying to connect. The city owns the main sewer pipe and the resident "owns" the lateral connector pipe.
While the construction is in process, the cost is $2,500 for a yearly hook-up permit to connect to the laterals (payable to the Orange County Sanitation District) with the construction company paying one-half of the cost. However, once curb and sidewalks are in-place, the cost of construction goes up to $20,000 per resident.
In January 2014, City Council will meet with residents before the home-building project begins.
Residents in that area can stay on the septic tank or pay the yearly permit.
Residents had questions about the sewer pipe, along with other issues.
Ramirez said the council is looking for feedback from residents in that area of businesses and homes.
One resident asked if the future curbs will be round or square, wanting to make sure it would be easy for her dog-kennel customers to continue parking in front of her dog-kennel business.
Another resident had concerns about the adult book store on Katella Avenue and was told the city has to allow a certain amount of that type of business because of freedom of speech, but the city will not seek that type of business.
"Every city has to allow that in their city according to the law and the courts," said Planning Manager and Community Development Director Omar Dadabhoy.
Also, it was noted by Ramirez that prostitution has been minimized with the city's newly-intensified efforts.
When the State of California took control of massage parlors, Stanton went from two parlors to 35 parlors, but Shawver said when the control of massage parlors comes back to the city of Stanton, "We will take care of it."
Other residents in that area noted they had experienced burglaries several times within the year. Orange County Sheriff's Department officers were on hand and suggested lights to illuminate their property and locks, which can minimize burglaries and/or robberies.
Shawver said being in Stanton rather than belonging to county property should make patrol time better for the residents.
Residents expressed concern over extra cars on the street and parking, with the additional homes that are planned.
"There is a noise and EIR and traffic review being conducted; they have to meet certain criteria," said Shawver. "Those will be provided at City Hall."
With more than 70,000 cars traveling through Stanton each day, along Beach Boulevard, Stanton is looking for an improved loo for passerby's by undergrounding telephone poles for a one-mile stretch.
"We have been successful in implementing most requests from residents with a few remaining ones on the docket for further review," said Ramirez.
"The neighborhood meetings will continue in 2014 and being a firm believer of what gets 'measured' gets done, we will rotate back to revisit each neighborhood to evaluate the effectiveness of what was implemented," said Ramirez. "It also allows us to identify other new challenges, which we will address early-on and eliminate before it impacts residents.
