ORANGE : Group Sues to Halt Housing Project

A group of homeowners, upset about a proposed 1,800-unit housing complex that would be next to their homes in the scenic Peralta Hills, filed a lawsuit Wednesday in Orange County Superior Court to halt the project.

The lawsuit, brought by the Mabury Ranch Homeowners Assn., contends that the Serrano Heights project poses serious environmental, traffic and aesthetic problems.

The suit also contends that the city did not follow state environmental regulations in giving its unanimous go-ahead to the project on Sept. 18 because it allowed the developer of the project to use its own consultant to conduct an environmental review.

Told of the challenge, Orange City Atty. Furman B. Roberts said: “This thing’s been studied to death. This sounds like a familiar attack. I haven’t had a chance to review it yet but I’d be very skeptical that it had any validity.”

But Deborah Bucksbaum, a Los Angeles attorney who is representing the 350 Mabury homeowners, countered in an interview: “From a legal and common-sense standpoint, the development as planned just doesn’t make a whole lot of sense.”

Joe Pelka, an organizer of the Serrano Heights opposition, said in a statement that the complex of single-family homes, condominiums and apartments “would cut hilltops and fill unspoiled canyons, moving a total of 12 million cubic yards of dirt. It will have a devastating impact on traffic safety and rare species of wildlife.”

Woodcrest Development Co. of Irvine has been working on the Serrano Heights project for six years. The 700-acre planned complex near Anaheim Hills drew protests from several hundred residents at public meetings, but when it finally came up for council approval on Sept. 18, no one spoke out against it. Opponents said later that they were not aware that the plan was up for final approval that day.

Officials with Woodcrest could not be reached for comment Wednesday evening.