Wilderness Area Spared Development : Builder Withdraws Plans for 300 Homes in San Clemente Area

A pristine, ecologically rich wilderness area threatened by San Clemente’s booming backcountry building effort will be spared for at least a decade after plans were withdrawn to build 300 homes in eastern Talega Valley.

Instead, the Santa Margarita Co., a development firm, is proposing that 1,220 acres of live-oak woodland be designated a reserve area for “at least a decade,” Santa Margarita Senior Vice President Richard Reese said.

“We have no plans for development in that area now, and we won’t for the foreseeable future, if ever,” he said.

The company still plans to build about 5,000 homes on its remaining 2,200 acres of Talega Valley ranchland, part of which is outside San Clemente city limits but is expected to be annexed to the city. A specific plan for the area has not yet been adopted by the Planning Commission and City Council.

The developer’s change of plans--announced by Reese at a Planning Commission meeting earlier this week--surprised and delighted conservationists, who have banded together to fight the proposed development at a number of public hearings on the project over the past few months.

“I’m glad they realized they have a treasure out there,” said Celia Kutcher, curator taxonomist at the Fullerton Arboretum and a resident of Capistrano Beach. “This area is far too ecologically important to have any development put on it at all.”

The proposed reserve area is unique because its vegetation and wildlife, almost entirely native, are very much like they were a couple of hundred years ago, said Marie Patterson, a member of the Audubon Society’s conservation committee. “That’s rare in Southern California.”

A field biologist who visited the area recently said its native grasslands and other plant populations are “of statewide significance,” and that the woodlands of the canyon floor are rich with wildlife. Mule deer, several species of hawk and owl, fox and mountain lions currently roam the area undisturbed.

“There was a lot of concern in the community about (the project)--that was a key concern of ours,” Reese said when asked why the company had scrapped the development. “The timing of the public hearings on the plan was not adequate for everyone to evaluate the situation.”

The company could still come back with development plans in several years, after the firm and environmentalists have had more time to study the wilderness area’s ecosystem and possible impact of development, Reese said.

Kutcher said the conservation groups would continue to work to get the reserve protected in some way. Efforts to recruit the Audubon Society and the Nature Conservancy to take over the land and manage it as a wildlife preserve have failed so far due to a lack of time and money, she said.