MISSION VIEJO : Group Files Suit Over Home Depot Plan

A group representing about 1,000 homeowners filed suit in Orange County Superior Court Wednesday to overturn the City Council’s approval of a proposed home-improvement store.

Last month, the council approved the construction of a 100,000-square-foot Home Depot store on a 10-acre site near the intersection of Marguerite and Crown Valley parkways.

Known as the Citizens United for Responsive Bureaucracy, the group of homeowners collected $5,000 from residents to pay for the initial legal challenge. It is hoping to raise another $40,000 to pay for lawyers.

“We just want the city to recall their approval and at least go through the proper environmental impact reports,” said Jack Durban, president of the citizens group.

Durban said the group was encouraged by the recent success of another local group that defeated an $18-million project backed by the council.

“They proved that once you can get enough fire in your belly, you can do anything,” he said. “ . . . Once people see we can fight this, we won’t have a problem raising money.”

Public hearings on the project last month drew about 200 angry residents. Many charged that traffic studies submitted to the city were inaccurate.

“Through the manipulation of the data and very broad and non-specific posting, the city failed to fully disclose the Home Depot project,” Durban said.

The group also said the environmental impact report prepared for the city failed to address conditions near the Crown Valley neighborhoods.

City officials disagreed with the group’s assertions Wednesday, saying potential problems were closely studied by city staff.

“We carefully walked through this project,” Councilman Robert D. Breton said. “Both the Planning Commission and City Council determined that any adverse impact on the environment was reduced to the level of insignificance by the mitigation measures imposed on the projects.”