Orange : Firm Drops Plans for Developing Gravel Pit

R. J. Noble Co. has dropped its proposal for an industrial park on a 137-acre gravel pit, a site nearby residents want to see converted to a public park.

The company, which owns the land, notified the city Tuesday that it has withdrawn the plan “because it became apparent that the council would not approve our application as we discussed it,” Noble Co. president Paul Cleary Jr. said Wednesday. “They apparently weren’t comfortable with it.”

The land is near the Santa Ana River in an unincorporated area between Anaheim and Orange. Orange had proposed annexing the land to bring in tax revenues, and the company agreed--if the city would change the zoning from open space to industrial use.

But about 200 neighbors signed a petition in September opposing the rezoning, asking instead that some government agency buy the land and build a park.

Because of the protest, Cleary said, some Orange City Council members indicated that the council wouldn’t agree to the zone change.

“This is part of long-range planning for the site. Nothing has changed in our ultimate development of the land. It was just an opportunity to develop when the city approached us.” The land will stay just the same and it’s back to business as usual,” Cleary said.