More Homes Sought Near Coto de Caza : Commission Told Present Limit Would Be ‘Financially Unfeasible’

The developer of a proposed championship golf course and residential community next to Coto de Caza told the Orange County Planning Commission Tuesday that limiting the parcel to 215 houses would be “financially unfeasible.”

Douglas L. Wood, appearing on behalf of Chambers Development Corp., said the company’s plans for 1,500 units would put about as many residents per acre on the property as currently exist in nearby communities. He said the current agricultural zoning of the property allows only one home for each four acres on the 860-acre parcel.

“This number is financially unfeasible,” he said.

Wood also presented a letter from the manager of the Starr Ranch, which is on the other side of the planned golf course and homes and which is owned by the National Audubon Society, expressing approval of the project if certain conditions are met. He said the developer had agreed to conditions on fencing, on protection for water supplies and on access to the ranch, which is a wildlife sanctuary.

The county’s Environmental Management Agency staff said 1,500 homes would not be incompatible with the density of surrounding developments but raised questions about the impact of so many homes on area traffic.

The planned golf course and homes constitute a project being considered along with three other developments in canyon country in southeastern Orange County that have drawn strong opposition from area residents.

The Planning Commission held three hearings earlier this year on the other three projects and Tuesday held the second of three more hearings on all four projects. The next hearing is scheduled for Nov. 12, after which the whole issue will go to the Board of Supervisors.

The main concern of residents has been the impact on traffic of thousands of new homes. Other concerns include destruction of views of existing residents, increased noise and light at night and the overall question of putting so many people in the area--what the residents see as the encroaching urbanization they sought to avoid when they moved to the area near the Cleveland National Forest.

The other three projects before the Planning Commission are Robinson Ranch, developed by the William Lyon Co., which wants to increase the 882 units it now has permission to build to 1,850; Portola Hills, formerly known as the Glenn Ranch and a development of the Baldwin Co., which now can have 1,481 units and which the developer wants to increase to 2,493, and Santiago Ranch, owned by Jack Mullan, where 182 units can be built and where the developer wants to put 483 units.