74 Homes Could Replace Vacant School Building in Fountain Valley

Today, the City of Fountain Valley released an Initial Study on Environmental Impact and a Mitigated Negative Declaration (MND) for a proposal to develop 74 single-family homes and a 1.12-acre park at 9790 Finch Avenue. 

The Moiola Park Residences, proposed by Brookfield Residential, would be located on a 13-acre site currently occupied by the former Fred Moiola Elementary School. The vacant school buildings would be demolished to make way for the new development. The single-family residences would range in size from 2,790 square feet (SF) to 3,419 square feet (SF) with four different two-story floor plan options. 

Brookfield proposes changing the current site’s land use designation from Public Facilities to Low-Density Residential, Low-Medium Density Residential, and Park. The residential portion of the project would have two different zoning areas. The first zoned area would have a minimum lot size of 4,500 SF and the second zoned area would have a minimum lot of 7,200 SF. Each residence would have either a private patio or private covered entryway, and a front and back yard.

Bassenian Lagoni Architects would design the single-family residences with Prairie, Craftsman, and Spanish architectural elements, multi-level rooflines, and an earth tone color scheme. Additional features would include stucco finishes, detailed roof elements, awnings, metal railings, and decorative windows.

Each residence in the development would have a minimum of a two-car garage and two driveway parking spaces. 80 on-street parking spaces would be provided, plus 15 on-street parking spaces on Finch Avenue to serve the proposed public park.

The 1.12-acre public park would be located on the northern portion of the site and would include a playfield, a tot lot, shade structure, BBQs, benches and picnic benches. The project would be landscaped with ornamental trees, vines, shrubs, and groundcovers through the common areas. 

Brookfield would also make a number of infrastructural improvements to the site including the construction of a sidewalk along Finch Avenue, new water and sewer lines, and improvements to the stormwater drainage system.