Rebels Dig In to Defend Last Ridge in South : Growth: The city carved out by the Mission Viejo Co. is on edge over the developer’s final step. The company’s offer of recreational land may not be enough to take Naciente Ridge.

After 25 years of shaping South County’s largest planned community, the Mission Viejo Co.’s job is almost finished.

In 1965, when Mission Viejo was 10,000 acres of rolling green hills and cattle ranches in rural Orange County, people began lining up to pay around $21,000 for yet-unbuilt luxury tract homes. Some families camped overnight for a chance to buy into the planned community.

About 28,000 homes and 75,000 residents later, Mission Viejo Co. officials believe the promise has been fulfilled, pointing to a network of carefully sculpted parks, recreation centers and landscaped roadways that they say paints an idyllic picture of suburban life.

But the road to accomplishing the Mission Viejo Co.’s final task--the development of 719 homes on the city’s last untouched ridgeline--promises to be a little rocky.

For the first time, the developer must seek permission from City Hall for a housing project rather than county supervisors. And the company must persuade local officials and residents to support the project at a time when the developer’s public image is suffering after a recent recall election.

In that election, the Mission Viejo Co. poured more than $350,000 into a failed effort to recall Councilman Robert A. Curtis, who retained his office with overwhelming support from voters.

As a result, the Mission Viejo Co. is now opening its wallet in an attempt to gain backing for the project. The developer is offering millions of dollars in public amenities to compensate for building on Naciente Ridge and for the increased traffic and noise the project will cause.

The company pledges to spend $10 million to build more than a dozen recreation fields and donate 203 acres of open space on the 423-acre project site, which has been on the drawing board since the late 1960s.

“This is the last opportunity to do something of this scale in Mission Viejo,” said Wayne Peterson, director of planning for the Mission Viejo Co. “The recreational component of the project far exceeds the community benefit of the hillside being preserved.”

Besides gaining support from Mission Viejo’s many youth sports organizations eager for the new fields that will provide space for two Little League divisions and one soccer league, the company appears to have made an offer city officials are finding hard to refuse.

Despite expressing doubts about losing the ridgeline, the Mission Viejo Planning Commission unanimously approved the project this month. “The public benefits significantly outweigh the environmental impact,” Commissioner Ben Meharg said.

Residents who want Naciente Ridge preserved are expected to appeal the commission’s decision to the City Council.

Even Curtis, who once incurred the Mission Viejo Co.’s wrath, endorsed the project after a meeting with company President Jim Gilleran.

In a surprise announcement, Curtis said he would not only support the proposed development, but would also back the company’s plans to build a massive hotel and commercial complex near Crown Valley Parkway and Interstate 5.

Gilleran, in exchange for the endorsement, authorized more public benefits. These include donating 7.2 acres of land for a civic center and reducing the 1,483 units remaining to be built in small-scale projects throughout the city by 392 units, as outlined in a development agreement.

“I was the only council member with the political capital to get these concessions,” Curtis said, referring to the community backlash against the Mission Viejo Co. demonstrated during the recall election.

However, Curtis’ ironic turnaround has drawn criticism from members of Save Our Last Ridge, a grass-roots opposition group largely consisting of residents in the 1,900-home Casta Del Sol neighborhood near Naciente Ridge.

Political leaders in Casta Del Sol claim the neighborhood’s 3,092 voters were the key to Curtis’ victory in the February recall election, which drew 15,000 voters to the polls. Now, they feel they have lost their only political ally.

“He sold his soul for an office,” said Bob Landgraff, a founder of Save Our Last Ridge. “I might be politically naive, but I personally feel betrayed.”

Because county voting records show Casta Del Sol as one of the largest voting blocks in South County, neighborhood residents and leaders of the area’s Republican and Democratic clubs have vowed to oppose any candidate who supports the Mission Viejo Co. or its projects.

“Our votes in the recall election were more in protest of the Mission Viejo Co. than in support of” Curtis, said David Garen, president of the Casta Del Sol Democratic Club. “We’re tired of developers trying to push us around.”

Mission Viejo Co. spokeswoman Wendy Wetzel reiterated that the loss of the last ridge is being mitigated by $10 million in improvements that might otherwise be funded by taxpayers.

She also pointed out that the ridge top would be reconstructed with an artificial slope above the homes to avoid the appearance of houses marring the ridgeline.

But detractors of the project say they will only be satisfied if the ridge remains in a natural state.

“Things aren’t the way they were 25 years ago,” said Cindy Bruner, a Save Our Last Ridge supporter who believes the project should be scrapped. “This was a rural community and we didn’t have traffic. We didn’t have overcrowded schools. We want to leave this for future generations.”