“Urban lot split” approved

With some reluctance, the Garden Grove Planning Commission approved a municipal code amendment implementing the “urban lot split” required by the passage of Senate Bill 9.

Planners voted 5-0 (with two members absent) in favor of a new provision that requires cities to allow property owners to divide lots in single family zones into two lots with up to two residences, provided the lots not be smaller than 12,000 square feet.

SB 9 has been widely criticized as meaning “the end of single family neighborhoods.” Supporters of the legislation argue it could help alleviate California’s housing crisis.

Part of West Haven Park is closed

For approximately five months, parts of West Haven Park in Garden Grove will be temporarily closed for turf renovations.

Affected will be that part of the park north of the Orange County Fire Authority Station 86. The southern portion, which includes a playground, community meeting room, and parking lot will remain open.

The park is located ay 12252 West St., south of Chapman Avenue.

Improvements at the park – at a cost of $634,835 – will include installation of new topsoil and grass seed. It will remain fenced to allow root establishment for period estimated to run though April 2022.

Hit-and-run driver gets 6-year prison term

A six-year prison sentence was imposed on Friday to a man who pleaded guilty Friday to driving drunk and killing a pedestrian in Anaheim in January 2021.

According to authorities, Moises Lopez Santiago, 39, of Norwalk was driving the van that struck and killed Uriel Hernandez Gonzalez who was standing in a marked crosswalk.

Santiago reportedly drove through a red light before his vehicle struck the pedestrian and then crashed into a palm tree in the area of 420 West Katella.