YORBA LINDA : Planning Panel Approves Helipad

The Orange County Planning Commission approved a helicopter landing pad for Southern California Edison Wednesday despite arguments from the Sierra Club that the flights could affect the migratory habits of male cougars.

The Planning Commission unanimously approved the project, with Commissioner Clarice A. Blamer absent, allowing Edison to lease a helicopter landing pad from the Metropolitan Water District at its Diemer filtration plant, a water treatment facility on Valley View Avenue in an unincorporated area next to Yorba Linda.

The landing site is on a ridge about a mile north of Yorba Linda Boulevard and three-quarters of a mile northeast of Imperial Highway. The approved plan authorizes a use permit for no more than five flights per month, with the exception of emergency landings or use of the landing site by emergency services helicopters.

Flights will not be allowed on weekends and legal holidays, or after 9 p.m. at all times. The permit will be reviewed every two years as requested by Yorba Linda city officials.

The landing pad was approved without an environmental impact report, prompting the Sierra Club’s opposition. An initial environmental analysis conducted by the Environmental Management Agency states that an environmental impact report was not necessary because the project’s impact on the surrounding areas was not substantial.

But the Sierra Club disagreed, and a representative argued to commissioners that an environmental review is needed.

Jack Bath, a Chino resident representing the Sierra Club’s Biodiversity Task Force, told commissioners that the ridge is a migratory path for male cougars traveling from the Santa Ana Mountains westward to Chino Hills State Park. The effect that helicopter traffic would have on the animals is unknown without a full environmental impact report, he said.

“A negative declaration is inadequate to address resources in the state park and how they will be affected by this project. The fact that this is a known migratory pathway for cougars should have triggered the county to do an environmental impact report,” Bath said.

County Planning Commission Chairman Roger Slates said he would not question the need for an environmental impact report if more flights were being authorized.

“If there were going to be five flights a day, I’d maybe agree we needed more studies, but with only five per month, I don’t see a problem,” Slates said.

Bath said he will appeal the commission’s decision to the County Board of Supervisors.