Orange County held its annual community conference as a day of workshops and community listening, with keynote speaker Lavonne Williams opening the program and a series of presentations on housing, permits and local technology resources.

The event included sessions on accessory dwelling units (ADUs), financial planning, estate planning and road safety. An unnamed presenter (Speaker 2) described ADUs as “an opportunity to build a smaller accessory dwelling unit in the back of your home, in the back in your backyard essentially to rent out or to allow a family member aging in place to stay there.” Another presenter (Speaker 3) encouraged residents to use Fastrack, “a website to apply for permits,” and urged attendees to get familiar with the online tools available.

Organizers also highlighted a planned Orange County Innovation Center, which event narration and a presenter (Speaker 4) said will open in early 2026. Speaker 4 said, “It is going to be, 17,000 square feet of space, filled with various labs. We'll have a production studio for people that wanna do YouTubeing and podcasting, AI, and a computing lab. It brings these technologies closer to home.” The county framed the center as a place for local residents to access production and computing resources.

Throughout the day, organizers emphasized community input. Attendees met county staff and neighborhood champions from all six districts, and speakers highlighted volunteer and neighborhood-led projects — including one resident who reported seeing more butterflies after habitat improvements in a private yard.

For OrangeCV, Ingrid Cotto.