Growth Consequences

The Q&A; with Anthony R. Moiso of Santa Margarita Co. was a look at the future of Orange County through the rosy, self-serving glasses of not just a developer but the second-largest private landholder in the county. Mr. Moiso’s responses were predictable, given the fact that his vocation in life is building houses as fast as the geography and the economy will allow, while simultaneously assuaging us with statements like, “It will be just fine” in Orange County in the year 2000. If building continues at the present rate, it will be a far cry from “just fine.”

I have lived in south Orange County only since 1970, forever surrounded by the disturbances of construction. As I type this letter, work has begun on an unnecessary “convenience center” pushed up to the property line of our town home. Many people, knowing that a reasonable amount of growth is inevitable and necessary, moved here to improve the quality of their lives and environment. So the growth began. . . . The result is freeway and surface street congestion beyond belief, poorer air quality and less open space to enjoy. The worst of it is, no one ever asked me or my neighbors how we felt about the development over the years. It just happened. God forbid you question the Board of Supervisors. They work for the developers, not their constituents. It is a Southern California scenario that, sadly, many of us have seen before.

SHARON ARMSTRONG

STEWART

Dana Point