SAN CLEMENTE : Tree Preserve to Be Managed by Group of 9

A 1,200-acre preserve of oak trees, sage scrub and native grasslands will be managed by a committee of five landowners, three county officials and one city representative, under plans approved this week by the City Council.

In a 4-1 vote, the council adopted a Planning Commission recommendation that the city and county combined constitute a minority voice on the Talega Valley conservancy board of directors.

The Talega Valley planned community, which includes 1,900 acres of county territory and 1,600 acres in the city, will include 5,000 homes, commercial centers, hotels and two 18-hole golf courses.

It is off the east end of Avenida Pico.

Although the conservancy will be controlled by owners of the 40,000-acre Rancho Mission Viejo, which is managed by the Santa Margarita Co., the adjacent development will be completed under the Florida-based Arvida Corp.

A Santa Margarita Co. official said the conservancy board members would be chosen from among the public and might include a representative of the South Coast Audubon Society, which has been critical of private control over the preserve.

“It would not be a political type of person,” said Richard M. Broming, vice president of planning for Santa Margarita Co. “We want people with an educational, scientific or ranch-management type of background.”

About one-fourth of the conservancy area is now used for cattle grazing, Broming said.

Studies on the effect of grazing on grasslands in the preserve have been discussed, he said.

The conservancy would be funded by ranch owners and by private donors, Broming added.

Santa Margarita Co. officials had fought an original proposal for equal representation on the conservancy board by private, county and city officials because it would have created a majority of public officials.