ALISO VIEJO : Grading on Tollway Route May Proceed

A Superior Court judge on Wednesday rejected an attempt by opponents of the San Joaquin Hills tollway to force developers to stop road grading along the route, even though the proposed 15-mile tollway has yet to win final environmental approval and is tied up in court.

Judge William Gray said tollway opponents failed to prove a “causal relationship” between preparations for the tollway and the grading now going on in Aliso Viejo.

Developers maintained that the road grading is being done as part of preparations for home sites in Aliso Viejo and is independent of the environmental review process for the tollway.

But tollway opponents contended that grading of any road along the route should be delayed until the tollway has cleared all the regulatory hurdles. The project has yet to be approved by the federal government, and its state environmental review is currently tied up in court.

Michael Fitts, an attorney for the Natural Resources Defense Council, pointed to the “high degree” of involvement among tollway boosters in reviewing plans for the grading work, which he maintained was proof that developers are making way for the toll road.

But Gray said it seemed like “one of life’s coincidences” that the developer’s grading efforts, which were approved by the county, will clear a path for a road as well as for housing projects. He noted that grading of a road through the development had already been approved as part of the county’s review of the housing project.