Planning in the County

One educational afternoon at the Orange County Planning Commission makes sadly clear why mindless overdevelopment has virtually ruined the former life style of Orange County. I sat as an uninvolved observer while a developer presented his case to build densely on a Santiago Canyon plot of land, then while local residents presented objections.

After hearing that the builder intended to remove 1 million cubic feet of sand and gravel from this rural, scenic area, necessitating a trip by a large gravel truck on narrow Santiago Canyon Road every 2 1/2 minutes of every working day for over two years, I was sure that no sane person would approve such an idea. Incredibly, after friendly chitchat on a first-name basis with developer Jack Mullan, a three-member majority (C. Douglas Leavenworth, Earl Wooden and H. G. Osborne) actually passed this ludicrous development plan.

In the second matter, the developer who is planning Los Alisos industrial park refused to mitigate the effects of destroying a lovely natural area either by increasing open space or the buffer zone between existing homes and his proposed development. His idea of a buffer is a green belt of 20 to 40 feet between residential lots and an industrial area.

This Los Alisos development also entails deviating from the county’s master plan by realigning Bake Parkway, with a further increase of already horrendous traffic. Once again, money speaks: Because the developer will pay for building Bake Parkway, he may put it where he wants to.

Such “planning” would lead any county to disaster. I now finally understand why our roads are at gridlock, our schools are overcrowded and our air is increasingly unbreathable.

JEAN E. OLSON

El Toro