ALISO VIEJO LAGUNA HILLS : Residents Upset by School Bus Lot Plans

A plan by the Capistrano Unified School District to place a school bus yard here has angered residents, who say parking 100 buses near homes will worsen traffic problems and reduce property values.

City officials in neighboring Laguna Hills also have expressed concern about the proposal, saying Laguna Hills residents don’t want noisy buses rumbling down city streets early in the morning.

“We’re not necessarily opposed to the bus yard being in Aliso Viejo,” said Heidi Fisher, who lives near the intersection of Aliso Creek Road and Terrace View Drive where the yard is planned for an 8-acre site owned by the district. “But we think this is a bad location. There are lots of other more suitable plots of ground in Aliso Viejo where there are plans for industrial uses.”

Dave Randall, the district’s transportation director, said about 100 buses, or roughly two-thirds of the district’s fleet, would be based at the Aliso Viejo facility.

Randall said about 40 of those buses would travel south on Aliso Creek Road to service schools in Laguna Niguel, while most of the others would travel major Laguna Hills streets, including Oso Parkway and Alicia Parkway, to get to schools in Mission Viejo and the foothill communities.

The district hopes to have the new bus site ready for use by September, 1996. The current bus yard, which Randall says cannot accommodate the buses needed for the fast-growing district, is in Dana Point.

Laguna Hills City Council members Melody Carruth and Randal J. Bressette said they are worried about possible environmental effects from the increased bus traffic.

However, Dave Doomey, who is handling the project for the district, said he believes the district will not have to complete an environmental impact report because the plan fits with uses described in the Aliso Viejo master plan document.