Land Swap May Placate Foes of Giant Church

Under fire from environmentalists, proponents of a proposal to build a sprawling, $55-million church complex, one of the largest in Orange County, may move the project from the rugged backcountry northeast of Mission Viejo to a site near El Toro.

Officials of the Saddleback Valley Community Church, one of the county’s fastest-growing congregations, said Tuesday that they are negotiating with developers of Foothill Ranch to acquire a location for a 4,800-seat sanctuary on a 60-acre site in the southeast corner of the planned community.

In exchange, Hon Development, builders of the 2,700-acre, $2-billion Foothill Ranch project, would get the church’s 113-acre parcel bordering the Cleveland National Forest and the Santa Ana Mountains near Trabuco Canyon. As part of the deal, Hon Development also would obtain a previously approved tract map calling for construction of 78 homes on the site, which fronts Santiago Canyon Road north of Live Oak Canyon Road.

The plan to build a church complex near Trabuco Canyon of unparalleled size in the county became a lightning rod last summer for environmentalists and area residents battling development in southern Orange County.

Opponents warned that the church, with its two lighted softball fields, 84 rooms for Sunday school and parking for 2,200 vehicles, would generate too much traffic and endanger the bucolic character that distinguishes the area from the rest of the county.

Even county planning officials, attempting to establish new growth guidelines for the county’s backcountry, opposed the church, saying the scope of the project was too intense for a rural landscape dotted by clusters of historic oaks.

“It was not a church complex but an entertainment complex. It’s a great relief that it may go elsewhere,” said Bruce Conn, a Trabuco Canyon resident and leader of the Rural Canyons Conservation Fund. “There was a lot of support on both sides and it would have been a pitched battle.

“Besides, I’m more comfortable taking on developers than taking on God.”

No formal agreement to swap parcels has been struck, but officials with the church and Hon Development said Tuesday that they are optimistic that an accord can be reached soon. The county Board of Supervisors would have to approve the land exchange, a process that could take up to six months.

“We believe it’s a win-win situation for the community and church,” said Chris Downey, a Hon Development vice president and Foothill Ranch project manager. “The church can be built to serve its growing congregation in an area that is more compatible.”

Glen Kruen, executive pastor of the Saddleback church agreed: “It’s not a good deal, it’s a great deal. The current site was never our first choice, but it was the only affordable one around.”

The church bought the land from the William Lyon Co. for $3.5 million in late 1987, culminating a four-year search of southern Orange County for a place suitable for a permanent facility. Since it began in 1980, Kruen said, the church has led a nomadic existence, having leased 13 different facilities, including the gymnasium at Trabuco Hills High School, where Sunday services currently attract up to 4,000 people.

Like many religious groups, the Saddleback church, which is affiliated with the Southern Baptist Church, has struggled to find affordable property as land prices soar. They settled on the Lyon property, despite its remoteness, because the price was right.

Kruen now believes they have found an ideal home.

“The two principal factors in locating a church are visibility and accessibility,” Kruen said. “We’ve got both on the Foothill Ranch. Now we can build the church we want.”

Kruen said the church would develop about 40 of the 60 acres, including construction of a multistory sanctuary with seating that exceeds that of the 3,000-seat Crystal Cathedral, the landmark church operated by the Rev. Robert H. Schuller in Garden Grove.

County officials say they have not participated directly in talks between the church and Hon Development. But Michael M. Ruane, director of the county’s Environmental Management Agency, said the land swap “has a lot of promise and potential. It could solve a lot of the concerns canyon residents had about such a facility in that area.”

For Supervisor Gaddi H. Vasquez, moving the church to Foothill Ranch would solve a troubling land-use issue as well as defuse a festering political problem. Throughout the negotiations, Vasquez said, he has quietly urged the two sides to keep talking and reach an agreement, believing the land swap is a “win for everybody.”

Even environmentalists are encouraged, despite the prospect of homes eventually being built on the current church site along Santiago Canyon Road.

Ray Chandos, a leader in the Rural Canyons Conservation Fund, said homes on that site would be preferable because they would generate less traffic and not disrupt the terrain as much.

“The question is, how many homes, and that’s something we will watch very carefully,” he said.