Senate Passes Bill Affecting Toll Roads : Home Buyers Would Be Given Information on Proposed Routes

Legislation aimed at avoiding future legal or political showdowns over Orange County’s proposed toll roads was passed by the Senate on Wednesday and sent to Gov. George Deukmejian.

The bill, authored by Sen. Cecil Green (D-Norwalk), was approved by a 35-0 vote without debate.

The measure would allow Orange County to require developers and real estate agents to give certain information to home buyers who plan to purchase within two miles of proposed highway routes.

Orange County proposed the bill as a way of heading off protests from homeowners who might otherwise claim that they were never told that they were buying houses near the routes mapped out for busy highways.

Richard Keefe, director of legislative affairs for the county, said the bill was triggered by county officials’ frustrations over community reaction several years ago to a road plan for the northeast portion of the county.

Plan Was ‘Emasculated’

“The county and the cities had put together a plan for various arterials to be built to solve some of the traffic congestion problems in that region,” Keefe said. “The developers went ahead and built the homes, people occupied the homes and suddenly became aware of a plan to put arterials right next to their homes.

“These people got very upset. They brought a lot of pressure to bear and essentially emasculated the original plan.”

Green’s bill would allow counties to require developers or their agents to post a scale map in a conspicuous place in their sales offices and to show each prospective buyer a copy of the map before the sale was final. The map would have to show the location of all highway routes within two miles of the subdivision.

The developer would be required to give a copy of the map to any buyer who requested one.

In its original form, the measure required the maps to cover an area within 5 miles of the development and required that they be given to all prospective buyers whether they asked for them or not. Those provisions were changed at the insistence of the real estate industry, Green and Keefe said.

“We didn’t get as much as we wanted in the bill,” Keefe said. “The hope is that at least the homeowner will be aware when he or she has bought a house that there is going to be a major thoroughfare in the vicinity.”

Deukmejian has no position on the bill, a spokesman said.