Judge Won’t Halt Clearing of Disputed Las Flores Parcel : Environment: Biologists protest that sensitive sage scrub is home to imperiled California gnatcatchers.

The Santa Margarita Co. began clearing a parcel of land in South County on Wednesday after a Superior Court judge refused to issue a court order sought by environmentalists who want to protect the sensitive scrublands they say are home to the California gnatcatcher.

The local chapter of the National Audubon Society had asked Judge Phillip E. Cox to keep the company from clearing the land until after resolution of a lawsuit challenging the development.

That suit, filed in January in Superior Court, seeks to overturn county approval of the company’s 2,500-home Las Flores planned community. It alleges that county officials violated state law by inadequately addressing environmental issues, from wildlife conservation and water quality to traffic and air pollution.

The area is between Mission Viejo and Coto de Caza.

A ruling on that lawsuit is due any day. But the company meanwhile requested a grading permit from the county, prompting environmentalists to seek the court order from Cox to delay the permit until the suit is decided.

In his ruling Tuesday, Cox said the developer will be allowed to clear parts of the 1,005-acre site of vegetation, but the firm will not be allowed to grade the area or to move large amounts of soil.

But Ray Chandos, an environmentalist who lives about 4 miles from the proposed development, said even that will wipe out much of the sensitive coastal sage scrub that is home to the gnatcatcher.

The tiny songbird, which most biologists say is fast disappearing in Southern California, is being considered for an endangered-species listing. The state Fish and Game Commission will hold a hearing Aug. 1 at Newport Harbor High School to determine the status of the bird.

Chandos said the developer wanted to begin work to beat the Aug. 1 deadline so it would not be affected by the commission’s decision.

But a spokeswoman for the Santa Margarita Co. said it is Chandos’ group that is trying to beat the deadline. “Their goal is to stall the process until after the Aug. 1 deadline,” said Diane Gaynor.

In court papers filed to oppose the motion to stop the clearing, company attorneys referred repeatedly to the gnatcatcher and the pending Fish and Game hearing.

The papers also stated that “there will be no irreparable harm to the environment. . . . Grading will not threaten the gnatcatcher or any other species.”

Audubon Society representatives disagree.

“All we wanted to do was to stall this until the court has ruled,” Chandos said. “What they are doing is irreparable harm.”