Study Upheld for Canyon Tract Housing

An Orange County judge on Monday upheld an environmental study that supports construction of 162 homes near the Cleveland National Forest.

Orange County Superior Court Judge Judge Ronald L. Bauer’s ruling allows the Rutter Development Co. of Irvine to build the Saddle Creek and Saddle Crest housing tracts on 593 acres along Live Oak Canyon and Santiago Canyon roads in eastern Orange County.

Officials with the environmental groups that tried to stop the developments vowed to appeal.

A spokesman for the developer said major construction would not begin until the appeal process is complete.

“Every case out in the canyons is going to be significantly litigated like this one has been,” said William D. Ross, an attorney for Rutter.

“Already it’s been a year and a half since [Rutter’s] project was approved by the Board of Supervisors,” Ross said.

In his ruling, the judge said the environmental study was adequate. He added that the Board of Supervisors “had an understanding of the environmental significance of its decision” and followed the law in approving the development.

Half a dozen environmental groups filed suit in February 2003 to block the two developments, claiming that they would bring too much traffic, force the removal of too many oaks and violate zoning laws.

The development, approved by county supervisors in January 2003, will displace more than 3 million cubic yards of dirt, upend more than 490 oak and sycamore trees, and create 75-foot-high artificial slopes, the suit states.

To allow that type of construction, local development laws had to be significantly -- and illegally -- modified, said Ray Chandos with the Rural Canyons Conservation Fund.

In addition, many canyon residents such as Chandos fear that if Rutter succeeds, more developers will seek exemptions in the county’s plan for its backcountry.

“This project sets a precedent,” said Chandos. “Other developers are already starting to wait in line.”

The Endangered Habitats League, the lead agency in the suit, has also argued that the project would block wildlife corridors from the national forest for deer, mountain lion, and coyotes.

“If we don’t preserve Orange County’s wildlife now, well, we don’t get a second chance,” said Dan Silver, the agency’s executive director.

Other plaintiffs include the Sierra Club, Rural Canyons Conservation Fund, Sea and Sage Audubon Society Inc., California Native Plant Society and the California Oak Foundation.