PLACENTIA : Condo Conversion Plan to Be Reviewed

The City Council will again consider a request to convert 22 apartments into condominiums at its meeting tonight.

Council members will vote on whether to allow the owner of the Gables to sell the two- and three-bedroom units to individual owners, a plan the council has rejected twice since last November. The complex is on Van Buren Street, south of Orchard Drive.

The council first considered the application last November. Despite winning approval from the Planning Commission, owner Iraj Mahdavi’s plan was rejected by the City Council.

At the time, the council opposed the project because it reduced the amount of affordable housing.

In February, Mahdavi submitted a new application claiming to have corrected the parking problem raised by the council. But the council again rejected the application. Council members said they were still concerned that the conversion to condominiums would diminish the supply of affordable housing.

But last month, Mahdavi received a court order requiring the city to consider the application again.

If the council denies the application, the issue will go back to the judge, who can either order the city to allow the conversion or uphold the city’s decision.