SAN CLEMENTE : City Urged to Join Environmental Pact

The Planning Commission has recommended that the city join a state pilot program designed to bring developers, environmentalists and public agencies together to protect coastal sage scrub, which is home to the California gnatcatcher and other rare animals.

The City Council is expected to act on the recommendation to enroll in the Natural Communities Conservation Planning Program on July 15.

The goal of the state program is to protect wildlife without invoking endangered species law, which the Wilson Administration says could harm economic development. The gnatcatcher has been recommended for the federal endangered species list, while the state rejected a bid to grant the bird special protection.

“It’s a regional approach to planning rather than doing it on a site to site basis,” San Clemente city planner James R. Barnes said. “We’re supportive of it.”

About 30,200 acres of coastal sage scrub owned by the county, the Arvida Co., the Irvine Co. and Rancho Mission Viejo have been enrolled thus far in the program, according to a recent report from the County Environmental Management Agency. About six cities have also enrolled in the program, with four others, including San Clemente, considering formal enrollment.

But the program has come under fire in recent months.

Some environmentalists and biologists have said the program does not go far enough to protect critical habitats, while some developers have hesitated to enroll in the program, fearing too many constraints would be placed on their land.

If San Clemente were to enroll in the program, it would be required to take certain regulatory steps when considering development in coastal sage scrub areas, Barnes said.