TRABUCO CANYON : Planners Turn Down Rose Canyon Road

The county Planning Commission on Tuesday upheld an earlier recommendation against building a two-lane road in Trabuco Canyon that critics have warned would open hundreds of acres of rugged backcountry to intense development and traffic.

The commission voted 3 to 2 to recommend that Rose Canyon Road--a three-mile-long proposed road through Trabuco Canyon on the edge of the Cleveland National Forest--be eliminated from a land-use plan now under consideration for a 6,300-acre swath of canyon country. The commission also voted to support “spot improvements” along two-lane Live Oak Canyon Road, which links El Toro Road with Trabuco Canyon Road.

Improvements would include widening each lane from 10 to 12 feet and adding a four-foot-wide shoulder to each side of the road.

Commissioners Stephen A. Nordeck, Thomas Moody and Roger Slates voted to recommend deleting Rose Canyon Road from the Foothill-Trabuco Specific Plan, a sweeping proposal to establish building limits for an area best known for its stands of ancient oak trees and scenic ridgelines.

Commission Chairman Earl Wooden and Commissioner C. Douglas Leavenworth opposed Tuesday’s action.

A month ago, a commission majority not only opposed Rose Canyon Road but recommended that it be eliminated from the county’s master plan of highways.

The county Board of Supervisors will make a final decision sometime early next year on the road, as well as the growth blueprint for the sparsely populated region.

Tuesday’s debate focused on whether existing roads in the area, primarily Live Oak Canyon and Trabuco Canyon roads, can safely handle the increase in traffic generated from new development that is expected once the Foothill-Trabuco plan is adopted.

“I’m still not convinced that we can live without Rose Canyon Road,” Leavenworth said. “I don’t think we’ve been offered a viable alternative to allow a reasonable amount of development.”

But Nordeck, whose district includes Trabuco Canyon, said that Rose Canyon Road would largely serve commuters from Rancho Santa Margarita, not the needs of local residents. Nordeck, who supports a network of local roads, was sharply critical of the way county planners and traffic engineers gathered their data to support inclusion of Rose Canyon Road in the area’s specific plan.

The commission delayed any decision on placing a cap on the number of new homes that can be built in Trabuco Canyon.

Without Rose Canyon Road, county planners say, only 400 to 550 new homes can be built. Less than 300 now exist in the area.