Judicial Rulings on Slow Growth
The recent decision on slow growth in San Juan Capistrano by Superior Court Judge William F. McDonald simply astounds me. Calling the measure unfair to developers, he ruled that they should not have to pay for improvements to meet already existing needs.
Yet how fair is it for the people who live in San Juan Capistrano and the rest of Orange County to see their quality of life decline with the smog, traffic snarls, waste problems and potential water shortages that are the result of unbridled development?
This measure and Proposition A, if it had been passed, would have given county cities time to bring their services up to par before more development occurred. Now, overruling the people of San Juan Capistrano, Judge McDonald has opened the door for 50 proposed developments in San Juan Capistrano. For the right of developers to make profits, the rights of current residents to breathe clean air and drive on uncongested roads have been sacrificed.
Haven’t we carved up enough of Southern California? Why does every inch of land have to be turned into homes, shopping malls, and office buildings? If we don’t stop applying 19th-Century conquer-the-land-and-get-rich thinking to our 20th-Century environmental problems, the developers may be the only people rich enough to escape the suburban jungle they have created.
MICHAEL GOODRICH
Seal Beach
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