By Brittany Hanson/Garden Grove Journal
What do 17 homes of the Hynes estates near Stanton have that no one else does? Cows, pigs, horses and chickens, oh my.
At Tuesday’s city council meeting, the question was whether or not it would be incorporated into the city of Stanton. After the city council provided details of the benefits the area could receive, the residents pleaded to not be swept in. And won.
“I’m a strong believer in the will of the public,” said David Shawver, mayor pro tem, “What I’m hearing tonight is that the majority of these people do not want to be a part of our city and I’m not going to force them to.”
The motion, seconded by newly sworn in council member Rigoberto Ramirez, was met by cheers and repeated “Thank you’s” from the full house at City Hall when it passed without opposition.
Hynes, a small rural area in the vicinity of Orangewood Avenue and Beach Boulevard has remained mostly unincorporated since its inception in the 1950’s. Portions of the community are within Stanton city limits but some remain a “county island.”
The homes built there are original to the days when there was little in the areas between Anaheim and Stanton and have proudly stayed that way. Much of the neighborhood maintains its independence.
Many of the homes have been passed down from generation to generation.
“If my grandfather was here, he would say if it’s not broke, don’t fix it,” said Jason Maher, “We do our own roadwork, all of our own repairs here . . . it’s like Mayberry back there, don’t change that.”
The road work, water supply and everything in the little area is all taken care of by the residents.
Elton Lundgren said, “We kind of take pride . . .we do all our own work. We’ve taken care of roads, taken care of gates. It is not the desire of the people to go to the city of Stanton. We’ve always been on our own with no help from outside.”
Resident Robert Buys said that he has lived 62 years in that neighborhood, inherited the house and planned to pass it down to one of his kids.
“The people that come there, they can’t believe what they see, it’s so different from everything else around it,” said Buys.
The city council did approve pre-annexation for two other unincorporated areas.
