Bob Lindell, representing Fullerton Heritage, the applicant for this appeal, said that they were seeking a continuance for a couple of weeks because they met with the developer and had discussions with them to find out if there is a meeting of the minds to save the historic building.

“We brought in our architect to see if they could find a solution that would make both parties agreeable to some compromise. So that’s where we are right now,” said Lindell.

The developer said, “We’ve talked with our architect about preserving this portion of the building that Fullerton Heritage would like to preserve. It decreases the size of our building by roughly 20%. To give you a sense of what that is, that’s about 20,000 square feet. The current market rate for UH warehouses in that area is about $2 a square foot. So if you annualize that, that’s about half a million a year.”

During public comments, several people said the CEQA analysis was suspicious because they did not know the architect, even after a “thorough” check of the site’s historic nature.

Jane Reifer said, “The phase two report is actually in the materials, and it does talk about arsenic, benzene, PCE, and other things that have exceeded our levels. It does mean that the environmental documents are not accurate.”

Matthew Leslie said he disliked seeing the city make decisions based on missing information. “We are supposed to be a preservation city. I’d like to see us live up to that this time.”

Mayor Nicholas Dunlap said he wanted to see this move forward tonight because it passed the Planning Commission unanimously.

Councilmember Dr. Ahmad Zahra asked staff why they did not notify and consult with Fullerton Heritage. Staff responded that it was not part of their checklist.

Councilmember Dr. Shana Charles said Fullerton Heritage is asking for more time to find a solution that appeases everyone. “I think that is a reasonable request.”

Mayor Pro Tem Fred Jung said the council was tasked as the governing agency in this public hearing to decide the merits of the appeal. While he admires Fullerton Heritage and the work they’ve done in this city and enjoys the modern architecture of Quincy Jones and Frederick Evans, on the merits of the appeal, he motioned to deny it. (Architecturally, they’ve built over 5,000 buildings in Southern California.)

The motion to deny the appeal that was brought forth by Fullerton Heritage passed 3 to 2, with Charles and Zahra casting no votes at the March 5 City Council meeting.