City Official Says He Let Developer Clear a Disputed Habitat : Environment: The Fish and Game Department is looking at possible code violations by Mission Viejo Co.

As the state Department of Fish and Game began an inquiry Thursday into a developer’s clearing of about 85 acres that may be environmentally sensitive, City Manager Fred Sorsabal said he authorized the work.

“It is my opinion that what they did was OK,” Sorsabal said Thursday night at a special meeting held by the Planning Commission before a crowd of angry residents. “They’ve been doing it on the south side of the road for 20 years.”

But environmentalists say the land could be home to at least two rare bird species. Mike McBride, an official with the Fish and Game Department, said his agency would be looking at possible code violations by the developer.

“What it comes down to is that we have a responsibility for the wildlife environment,” he said. “Habitat that is gone, is gone, and we take that very seriously.”

The Planning Commission on Monday had given the Mission Viejo Co. permission to use only light machinery, such as weed-eaters and power mowers, on the land.

But, as horrified environmentalists watched, the developer used large tractors starting just after dawn Wednesday to clear vegetation off a hillside section between El Toro Road and Upper Oso Reservoir, at the city’s northern border.

Sorsabal gave the company permission Tuesday to use heavy machinery because he said the company has been using such equipment on the parcel for years, and as recently as six months ago.

Totaling 210 acres, the parcel is earmarked by the company for a business complex. It is also the subject of a lawsuit against the city and company by a county Audubon Society chapter, which says the land is home to such rare species as the California gnatcatcher.

Both members of the City Council and Planning Commission said they felt deceived by the company, which accepted the planners’ restrictions Monday, then went to city staff members the next day for relief from restrictions of the weed abatement permit.

“I was promised one thing and delivered another,” said Commissioner Sherri Butterfield, who voted to approve the permit Monday. “The land disturbance is not necessarily what I’m concerned about. It’s that the city and company acted as if they had agreed on a method of doing this.”

Councilwoman Sharon Cody said she reviewed a tape of the Planning Commission meeting and talked with city staff members before concluding that company officials “completely misrepresented what they were going to do there.”

All sides agreed that the problem stemmed from an authority problem. A resolution passed by the City Council last year requires a permit for large-scale weed abatement but gives the city staff sole authority to issue that permit. The Planning Commission may only review biologists’ reports and make recommendations.

At the Planning Commission meeting Thursday night, commissioners said they will seek better communication with the city staff and clarification of that resolution.

The Mission Viejo Co. has been involved in several controversies in the city over weed abatement, which the company says is needed because of fire hazards.

On several occasions, the developer has cleared land that local environmentalists say should not have been touched. Last fall, the council reacted by passing the weed abatement resolution.

Less than a week before the resolution was to take effect, the developer cleared two sites in the city, totaling about 15 acres.

Commissioner Joseph Lowe, an Orange County Fire Department captain who voted against issuing the permit Monday, said it is not necessary to scrape plants off the ground to ease fire danger.

Lowe said the company wanted to clear the area of gnatcatcher habitat before Aug. 1, when the state Fish and Game Commission will meet in Newport Beach to consider placing the bird on the endangered species list.

“If the gnatcatcher is gone,” he said, “then they have no problems building what they want on these sites.”