BREA : Hearing on Birch Hills Project Set

The Planning Commission will conduct a public hearing Tuesday concerning an environmental impact report and requested zone changes for the Birch Hills development, a large-scale commercial and residential project.

Unocal Land & Development Co. is proposing to build a 60-acre retail center along Imperial Highway west of Kraemer Boulevard. The center, planned in Italian Renaissance style, would feature an ice skating rink, stores and restaurants.

The site currently includes a portion of the 18-hole Birch Hills Golf Course, which would be redesigned so it could remain open throughout the development process.

The site formerly housed the demolished Unocal Collier Plant, which produced nitrogen-based fertilizer in Brea for nearly 40 years before closing in 1991.

Unocal is hoping to break ground on the commercial center by summer.

The developer also wants to construct 363 single-family homes and a community park north of the proposed center.

Project manager Bob Schrag said it would probably be seven to 10 years before construction begins on that part of the project.

Unocal is seeking to build 112 affordable housing units at Imperial Highway and Placentia Avenue.

The neighborhood would be gated and include single-family homes priced from $160,000 to $200,000.

Schrag said construction of those homes would not begin until at least mid-1996. The site is currently occupied by the Imperial Golf Course clubhouse.

The Planning Commission meeting is scheduled for 7 p.m. at the Brea Civic & Cultural Center, 1 Civic Center Circle. Information: (714) 990-7600.