Saddleback Mountain Area Development

The residents of Trabuco Canyon are fighting a rear-guard action to save their historical and rural community, located in the foothills of Saddleback, from sure destruction at the hands of a few greedy developers.

Unfortunately, the process is skewed in favor of these few developers at the expense of the county residents. As one example, it is bad enough that critical meetings involving the Planning Commission are inconveniently scheduled during weekday hours when it is difficult for working people to attend. But now we have had a situation where the time for the only visit by the Planning Commission to personally view development projects in the Foothill/Trabuco Specific Plan area was switched from afternoon to morning at the last minute, seriously diluting community involvement.

It is an outrage that Planning Commission members and developers knew about these changes a week ahead of time but that concerned community members only barely found out the night before, when it was almost impossible to make work or schedule changes.

Isn’t it time that the people of Orange County had supervisors and a county staff that sided with its residents rather than always bowing to the wishes of wealthy developers and individuals? It will be a sad day when the only evidence of Orange County’s rural past shows up in dusty photos and KOCE history specials. Unfortunately, that day is fast approaching with the help of dirty tricks and other tactics always favoring development over the preservation of our dwindling natural environment.

WILLIAM BRECHTEL

Trabuco Canyon