IRVINE : Plan Envisions Golf Course, 400 Houses

Marking the beginning of a lengthy approval process, the Irvine Co. is seeking public comment on a plan to build 400 estate homes around an 18-hole golf course in the hills east of Turtle Rock.

Company officials have discussed the Shady Canyon project with several Turtle Rock homeowners associations over the last few weeks. The city is now in the process of selecting a consulting firm to prepare the environmental impact report on the development.

Once a consultant is hired, a public meeting involving city planning officials, the consultant and the Irvine Co. will be held, probably sometime in June, said Michael J. Le Blanc, vice president of Irvine Community Builders, a division of the company.

Planning for the project is still in its earliest stages. The environmental impact report will not be completed for another six months, and the City Council is not expected to consider the matter until early 1995.

The Irvine Co. wants to construct as many as 400 custom executive-style homes along a picturesque canyon at the end of Bonita Canyon Drive. Le Blanc said the community would have private streets, homes on expansive lots and acres of nearby open space.

The company hopes to create a rural atmosphere in Shady Canyon by planting greenery and limiting the number of street lights in the area, Le Blanc said.

The project’s approval could jeopardize plans to extend Sand Canyon Avenue from the San Diego Freeway to the San Joaquin Hills Transportation Corridor. As currently designed, the Sand Canyon Avenue extension would cut directly though the golf course development.