The Irvine Company has announced an agreement with Piper Preschool to lease two properties in the Irvine Woodbridge Village Shopping Center. Specifically, they will lease out the location of the Barnes and Noble Bookstore and the Ruby's Restaurant. The plan is to demolish the Ruby's Restaurant to build a play area for the preschoolers. The purpose of this petition is to indicate that you are against the leasing of the Barnes and Nobles Bookstore and the Ruby's Restaurant locations to the Piper Preschool.

Background
In 2021, the Irvine Company completed a $30 million renovation. When announced in 2014 they said, “We’re taking everything that people love about Woodbridge Village Center and transforming it into even more of a community gathering place with new amenities and updated features,” said Dave Moore, president of Irvine Company Retail Properties. “It will still be the ideal spot to take in a movie, enjoy a meal or cup of coffee or just somewhere to get comfortable and take in the beautiful scenery.”

However, by placing a preschool in the middle of this shopping center, the Irvine Company will be removing the last water-facing restaurant. Several years earlier they demolished the Water's Restaurant to the disappointment of residents.

A preschool in the village, will create many problems including noise, traffic on the already busy street of Barranca and security risks. A recent poll on Nextdoor showed that 90% of the residents would prefer retail and dining over the Preschool, with 889 responding in just three days and over 100 comments indicating great passion about this issues.

According to the Woodridge Village Association, this agreement is contingent on approval by the Irvine Planning Commission. The Commission plans to schedule a meeting in the first quarter of 2022. Although zoning is not a problem, traffic concerns are.

Please sign this petition to indicate that you are against the leasing of space inside the Woodbridge Village Shopping Center to the Piper Preschool.