‘Guide for Growth’--the County’s New Plan

As a proponent of creative growth management I find the Times’ series of articles on this subject matter very informative indeed. Your editorial “Guide for Growth” (Aug. 4) calling for constructive leadership is appropriate.

State Sen. Marian Bergeson’s comments in her letter to the editor (Aug. 14) focused on the apparent lack of interest and vision at the state and more importantly at the local level to deal with this vital issue in a responsible and creative manner.

I applaud her leadership in drafting legislation to provide local officials with specific guidelines in balancing “economic expansion with resource conservation.”

In the meantime, here in Orange County our Board of Supervisors recently adopted a Growth Management Plan put together by a citizens committee. The plan mandates developers to meet certain criteria mainly in the area of traffic control.

This certainly is a step in the right direction, providing that the county implements and enforces with no exceptions its own rules and regulations within a six-month period.

However, under the so-called “developer agreements” at least 65,000 housing units, located mostly in south Orange County, are exempt from the growth plan. How will the impact of the increased traffic be absorbed under this plan?

If not, will the plan then become unmanageable and for all practical purposes be meaningless?

As a further consequence, lawsuits have been filed questioning the validity of these developers’ agreements. In addition, a recall process against two county supervisors has been started. A prolonged and bitter battle seems to be inevitable.

It is time that our elected representatives show courage and be more responsive to the will of the electorate. I urge our Board of Supervisors to modify the development agreements to conform to the provisions of the growth plan and be implemented within six months.

I also suggest that those developers who are not flexible should be put on notice that, upon expiration of their agreement, they will not be issued a permit again in Orange County.

This type of strong leadership may alleviate the basis for further litigation and recall efforts. If all else fails, I propose that a countywide citizens coalition be formed with the specific purpose of selecting and/or supporting candidates in the 1990 supervisors election.

As citizens we need representation expressing a higher level of sensitivity to our concerns.

PAUL T. WILLEMS

Laguna Niguel