County Acts to Protect Parks Master Plan

As annexations and newly formed cities reduce the amount of land under county control, the Board of Supervisors moved Tuesday to preserve its plans for a regional park system even after the parkland comes under city control.

The supervisors unanimously recommended that the Local Agency Formation Commission, which decides the boundaries for annexations and incorporations, require municipal governments to recognize the county’s regional park master plan.

They said they were concerned that development might be approved for current parklands once they are out of the control of county government, leading to a lack of recreational space and wildlife habitats.

“The county is entering an era where it is a given fact that communities are going to annex and incorporate,” Supervisor Gaddi H. Vasquez said. “And the county, as a regional government, has a responsibility to develop regional facilities.

“If we fail to do that, there will be long-term consequences.”

The proposal brought a parade of support from groups that are frequent adversaries of the county, including the Sierra Club, Friends of the Irvine Coast, county watchdogs Shirley Grindle and Bob Bennyhoff and the Orange County League of Women Voters.

But the plan was challenged by those involved in a proposed annexation that is before the formation commission today. The agency is scheduled to consider annexation of 257 acres of unincorporated Irvine Co. property known as Peters Canyon to the City of Orange. About 220 acres of the proposed annexation has been identified as regional parkland by the county.

Both the Irvine Co. and the City of Orange questioned whether it is legal for the commission to impose parkland restrictions in an annexation or incorporation decision. Vasquez said the county counsel has ruled that the commission does have that authority.

The Irvine Co. has agreed to preserve the 220 acres of parkland, partly as a trade-off for other areas it is developing. But Irvine Co. attorneys questioned the county’s authority to make that offer of parkland a condition of the annexation.

“We will be making a strong argument to Lafco that such a condition has no basis in law,” said Carol Hoffman, senior planner at the Irvine Co. “We were just disturbed that a legal maneuver was taken by the county when we were proceeding in good faith.”

Orange City Manager J. William Little said, “I think we’re concerned (about) any condition being imposed by Lafco beyond what is required by state statutes.”

Little said the city had only recently been informed of the county’s plan to impose a condition on the annexation and that it has not yet been discussed by the City Council. He said the city has supported the plans for a park, but he did not know what the city’s reaction would be if the commission approves the annexation with the park as a condition.

While Orange and the Irvine Co. agreed with the county’s plans for parkland in Peters Canyon, they both have an eye toward another site that could present a more difficult confrontation.

The supervisors’ vote specifically noted two other park areas that are likely to be annexed to cities, one of which is already being studied for residential development by Orange. All three of the park sites are owned by the Irvine Co.

In Limestone Canyon, just north of Whiting Ranch, the county has identified 6,400 acres that it describes as the last buffer between the Cleveland National Forest and the growing cities of Irvine, Orange and Tustin. It is also home to deer that could not be absorbed into the national forest, according to an Environmental Management Agency report.

But Orange is considering about 900 acres of that county park area for residential development. Both Little and Hoffman said they consider the exact boundaries and the size of the Limestone Canyon park to be negotiable.

“I think they are going to have to sit down with the Irvine Co. and ourselves and come to some conclusion about what is a reasonable size for these parks,” Little said.

The third site identified in the supervisors’ vote was Weir Canyon, where some of about 2,000 acres of parkland already have been designated for development by Anaheim. The Environmental Management Agency said the park contains the largest forest of oak trees in Orange County.