Diamond Bar to study development at O.C.'s edge

Meeting tonight to seek input on 3,600 homes on nearly 3,000 acres above Brea.
By ERIC CARPENTER
The Orange County Register
DIAMOND BAR - Plans to build 3,600 homes in the hills between Brea and Los Angeles County are moving forward after years of debate.

Diamond Bar officials will hold a meeting tonight to seek public input about what questions and concerns to address in a report analyzing how the project would affect traffic, air quality and the environment.

Landowner Aera Energy wants to build homes on 2,935 acres – 322 acres in Orange County, the rest in unincorporated Los Angeles County.

Environmental groups and Brea and La Habra city leaders oppose the plans, which they say would choke regional streets and freeways with more traffic and would destroy many of the area's natural resources. The land has been used the past century for oil production and cattle grazing.

In December, the Diamond Bar City Council signed a pre-annexation agreement with Aera, which surprised and outraged some local officials who called it a move by a development-friendly city to circumvent oversight from planning agencies in both counties.

Developers and project supporters have argued that the proposal would provide much-needed housing in the region and more than 200,000 square feet of new commercial space.

Wednesday's meeting is scheduled from 6:30 to 8:30 p.m. at the Diamond Bar Center, 1600 S. Grand Ave. Written comments can be sent through June 4. Information: www.cityofdiamondbar.org.

Contact the writer: 714-704-3769 or ecarpenter@ocregister.com
http://www.ocregister.com/ocregister/news/local/countywide/article_1695671.php

Diamond Bar looking to build new golf course

By Caroline An Staff Writer
San Gabriel Valley Tribune

DIAMOND BAR - The city has been discussing developing the Diamond Bar Golf Course for nearly two decades, but the current City Council has gotten closer to hitting the ball off the tee than ever before.

The fate of the golf course, built in 1964 by Los Angeles County and one of the few affordable golf courses in the San Gabriel Valley, has residents concerned, particularly those who live near the 18-hole course, located off the 57 and 60 freeways.

"We have to address the issue because we have the land and also transportation issues at hand," said David Doyle, assistant city manager.

The city is in escrow to buy 170 acres of privately-owned land and 100 acres from Industry, where a new golf course could be built.

Plans for the new golf course, which includes portions of the proposed Aera Energy project, have been shared with Los Angeles County Supervisor Don Knabe's office, wildlife and community organizations.

Knabe has no opinion on the golf course, said David Sommers, his spokesman.

"The only position he has is that we need to maintain affordable public golf," he said.

The new golf course would include some land in the 1,940-acre Aera Energy Project. The property borders Rowland Heights, Brea, La Habra and La Habra Heights.

The city is also considering an undeveloped property between Chino Hills and Diamond Bar, known as the "Tres Hermanos" area, as a potential golf course site.

The flurry of activity is due in part to potential improvements to the 57 and 60 freeways, which include building additional entry and exit ramps on Grand Avenue.

Mayor Steve Tye said these changes, if they occur, could "negatively impact" the current site of the golf course - located just off the chronically-congested freeway interchange.

"Some of the improvements would require reconfiguring the third and eighth holes," Tye said.

Residents have reacted strongly to possible development of the current course. Tye said he understands their often emotional reaction.

"They are looking at the course as an oasis in an urban jungle," he said.

At a council meeting this week, residents criticized the proposal to convert the golf course to commercial. The council postponed the environmental study that would look at development on the current golf course and the sites the city is considering building a new golf course.

Many in attendance said traffic was already bad on Grand Avenue - one of the city's major streets - and that building more retail on the busy intersection would exacerbate the problem.

"All this would do is compound the problem," said David Demers. "It would be a shame to do anything without resolving the ones we already have."

City officials said athletic fields or a new park are also being considered along with retail.

caroline.an@sgvn.com

(626) 962-8811, Ext. 2108

Diamond Bar Birthday Celebration Today

City's 18th Birthday Celebration

Location:Pantera Park 738 Pantera Drive
Diamond Bar, California 91765

Sunday April 22, 2007 Today!

Join us in celebrating 18 years of incorporation on Sunday, April 22, 2007 from 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. at Pantera Park, 738 Pantera Drive, Diamond Bar. Attention non-profit service organizations! If you are seeking a fun way to raise funds for your group, why not participate as a food vendor, game booth operator, carnival ride operator, or bring awareness to the community about your organization with an information booth.

For more information or to receive a vendor application, please contact the following: Car Show, Craft Fair, Food Booth, Game Booth, Carnival Ride Booth, or Information Booth: Andee Tarazon with Diamond Bar Community Services at 909.839.7067

Technorati : Diamond Bar, Diamond Bar News

KFWB Reports:Investigators to Probe Link Between Another Seizure Miles Away

http://kfwb.com/pages/326960.php?contentType=4&contentId=391527

DIAMOND BAR - Authorities today seized nearly $10 million worth of marijuana being grown inside a four-bedroom home in Diamond Bar that was being used as a pot greenhouse.

Detectives arrested 27-year-old Tommy Wong on suspicion of unlawful cultivation of marijuana after narcotics investigators confiscated almost two-thousand plants in every part of the house along with lights, an irrigation system and other equipment used to cultivate marijuana.

The raid comes a week after investigators seized about $12.5 million worth of pot found inside a sprawling, seven-bedroom home several miles away in Diamond Bar.

Detectives were trying to determine whether there was a link between the two pot-growing operations. One official said that because of the amount of plants seized, it's possible this could be part of a larger-scale operation taking place in other affluent neighborhoods in the area.

Technorati : Diamond Bar, Diamond Bar News

In quiet suburbs, neighbors are watching again

Pot busts have residents weighing privacy against a need to know.

By Tony Barboza and Megan Garvey, Times Staff Writers
April 20, 2007 http://www.latimes.com/news/local/la-me-suburbpot20apr20,1,787734.story

Crime and danger seemed so removed from one family-friendly hillside community in Diamond Bar, the local Neighborhood Watch disbanded out of lack of need.

Or so its members thought.

This week, the same neighbors who let crime-watching efforts lapse were jarred by Los Angeles County sheriff's deputies descending on a two-story, red-tiled-roof home where manicured pink roses lined the walkway and the quiet new neighbors had seldom been seen.

As other homeowners looked on, deputies removed nearly 1,000 marijuana plants from the gutted home, where the bathrooms had been converted into storage space, interior walls had been removed and the electricity powering the massive growing operation had been routed directly from power lines, stealing kilowatts.

The operation was one of a dozen uncovered in the last month in normally quiet, upscale suburbs in or near the eastern San Gabriel Valley. The discoveries, which have yielded 10 arrests and more than 12,000 plants, have shaken the communities, prompting residents to question the long-held practice of respecting neighbors' privacy as long as they do the same.

"We have to go back to knocking on doors and taking flowers to our new neighbors," said Paulette Horton of Diamond Bar, who lives down the street from the formerly thriving criminal enterprise. "From now on, we're going to introduce ourselves to whoever's out in front of an empty house."

The pot busts have residents suddenly scrutinizing neighbors and calling police on newfound suspicions: a dry lawn, no bins out on trash day, windows that never open, a faint - or not so faint - smell of "skunk" in the air.

"Now I'm driving around thinking, 'Whose shades are closed?' " said Mehrbanoo Ostowari, 41, a 15-year Diamond Bar resident who was walking her miniature poodle at a neighborhood park. Part of the problem, she said, is a culture that may value privacy over interaction with neighbors.

"All people do is drive up, open up their garage, close it and go inside," she said.

For marijuana entrepreneurs, suburbia appears to be an increasingly desirable hiding spot for just those reasons.

"It seems like they're picking neighborhoods that are fairly nice - some of them very nice - where neighbors are friendly but not overly involved," said Lt. Jim Whitten of the Los Angeles County Sheriff's Narcotics Bureau. "People are so busy with their lives coming and going they think they just won't be noticed, and it worked for a while, and it's probably still working in some places."

California has seen almost a quadrupling of indoor pot plants seized in the last three years, from at least 54,000 plants to nearly 200,000 in 2006. Last year, authorities shut down 50 home pot farms in Sacramento, Modesto and Stockton. Federal drug investigators tied those operations to a San Francisco-based Vietnamese crime ring.

The Los Angeles-area cases have strong similarities: recently purchased and spacious suburban homes converted into large-scale growing complexes; and illegally rerouted electrical wires that tapped directly into supply lines, avoiding huge power bills that might have attracted attention. Of the 10 people recently arrested, all but two were Asian, leading law enforcement officials to suspect a possible connection to Asian organized crime.

The houses, which often had attached garages, made it easy for growers to bring supplies in and out without their neighbors knowing. And each site used hydroponic technology - growing plants without soil. In some cases, sophisticated ventilation systems were installed to diffuse the strong odors from the plants.

At one home, sheriff's officials said a false foyer was built, shielding the view of the unconventional remodeling should anyone knock on the door.

The first major discovery was made March 14 - purely by chance. An electrical fire from an overloaded panel brought emergency crews to a spacious, peach-hued Chino Hills home.

Inside, firefighters found about 1,300 marijuana plants.

Susan Jabs, who lives next door, said she had no idea the two young Asian men who were fixing up the house were actually converting it into a massive indoor pot farm. The men would wave to her family. They even had a gardener.

When Jabs' family asked them about building a fence between their backyards, they didn't respond because they didn't speak English.

"We thought it was a language barrier," she said. "We were just grateful to have quiet neighbors."

Technorati : Diamond Bar, Diamond Bar News

Another pot house found in Diamond Bar

The indoor farm is found amid million-dollar homes, where houses that are too quiet now attract attention.

By Richard Winton and Tony Barboza, Times Staff Writers
April 17, 2007

http://www.latimes.com/news/printedition/california/la-me-pothouse17apr17,1,4498241.story?coll=la-headlines-pe-california

Authorities on Monday discovered an eighth huge marijuana-harvesting center in an upscale home in the eastern San Gabriel Valley suburbs, with some officials wondering whether the pot ring is getting more sophisticated.

The latest pot house was found amid million-dollar homes on Farben Drive in Diamond Bar, a suburb about 30 miles east of downtown Los Angeles.

The criminal ring that ran the house made sure to keep the lawn and garden well manicured, and neighbors said they had no idea the house was being used to grow drugs.

"It is a very, very nice home in an upscale neighborhood with two whole stories dedicated to marijuana," said Lt. Jim Whitten of the Los Angeles County Sheriff's Narcotics Bureau. "Typically these homes have lawns that are untended. It is one of the signs we tell people to look for. But in this case it was a nice, well-kept lawn. But with all the publicity, people are beginning to notice these homes."

L.A. County Sheriff's officials have been stunned by the amount of pot found in Diamond Bar and surrounding suburbs in the last few months - with estimates approaching a value of $50 million. Detectives believe the houses might be tied to an Asian organized crime ring.

Frustrated city leaders are wondering when it will end.

"We have already found three more of these than we thought there were in our quiet town," said Diamond Bar Mayor Steve Tye. "By the time we hit five or six, or double digits, these people will get the picture. I don't see how a business can afford to take that many hits before they close up shop and decide to try another business model."

The recent pot raids have made some homeowners, who might otherwise be grateful to live on a quiet street, instead suspicious when a neighbor's house is too quiet.

"What's not going on that should be going on?" asked Tye. "If there are no kids being taken to school, if homeowners are not coming and going, that's now cause for concern."

Lillian Ferguson, 49, who lives across the street from the most recently discovered house, said she's now considering reconvening the Neighborhood Watch group in light of the raid.

"They were pretty quiet neighbors," she said of the occupants of the house at 742 Farben Drive, a two-story stucco building with wood facing that was sold six or seven months ago. "We would just see a couple Asian men come in and out, but they didn't call any attention to themselves. Everybody on the block's just blown away."

A suspicious-looking man sitting in a Ford Mustang at midday Monday, who later turned out to be an undercover police officer staging the raid, aroused more suspicion than the pot house, she said.

The home, like others, was refitted to allow for a state-of-the-art heating and lighting system to nurture the crop.

As investigators began their search, two men arrived at the home in rapid succession and were arrested on suspicion of cultivating marijuana, Whitten said.

Authorities identified the men as Ken Ho, 27, and Chuan Zhou, 42. Each was being held in lieu of $50,000 bail.

According to law enforcement officials, California is in the midst of a major boom in large-scale marijuana cultivation operations run from inside homes, with authorities confiscating more than $100 million worth of pot in the last year alone.

Authorities are trying to determine whether the Southern California busts are connected to a similar suburban pot business in Northern California uncovered last year. That operation was tied to an Asian organized crime group based in San Francisco's Chinatown, the federal Drug Enforcement Agency said.

Three pot-farm homes in Diamond Bar, two in Rowland Heights, one in Chino Hills and one in Pomona have been found. Officials made at least six arrests in connection with those houses.

Seizures in middle-class and upscale suburbs have occurred as pot growers have taken advantage of cheap home financing and minimal credit checks to purchase homes and remodel them into sophisticated farms for quick profits.

Although indoor plants are smaller than their outdoor counterparts, they can be harvested more frequently, so they yield a similar quantity.

Technorati : Diamond Bar, Diamond Bar News

2 Arrested In Diamond Bar Pot Bust

Apr 20, 2007 7:42 am US/Pacific http://cbs2.com/topstories/local_story_110104757.html

VIDEO: Watch The Latest News SLIDESHOWS: View The Day's Top Photos

(CBS) DIAMOND BAR, Calif. Two men were arrested in connection with the discovery of the fourth home-based marijuana growing operation in Diamond Bar in the past month, authorities said Friday.

The suspects were identified as Ze Ning Peng, 41, and Ze Lin Peng, 49, said Sgt. Duane Allen of the Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department.

A search warrant was served at a home on the 1100 block of Seneca Place at 5 p.m. Wednesday, then detectives seized 1,533 marijuana plants with an estimated street value of up to $6,000 each, Castro said.

According to the San Gabriel Valley Tribune, investigators found the two suspects dismantling a marijuana farm inside the four-bedroom home when deputies served the search warrant, and arrested them on suspicion of cultivation of marijuana and theft of electricity.

The entire house was being used as an indoor marijuana cultivation site, Castro said.

Los Angeles County Sheriffs deputies discovered marijuana growing operations in three other homes in Diamond Bar on March 21, March 28 and Monday; four in Rowland Heights and one in Rosemead. Pomona police discovered a similar operation in that city on April 1.

Technorati : Diamond Bar, Diamond Bar News