Public Deserves Candor About Development Proposals

* In The Times’ article “Activists Oppose Tentative Horno Plan,” Aug. 3, it was mentioned that I was disappointed that no one showed up at the Orange County Planning Commission hearing to oppose the “conceptual plans for a 5,000-acre community.”

However, my disappointment was that there was nobody there from the public at all, pro or con.

If approved as proposed, this project will entitle construction of a 9,800-unit, 22,500-resident city immediately south of Rancho Santa Margarita and Las Flores and east of Mission Viejo. One would think that such a massive proposal would generate at least a little public interest.

This development will gobble up another 2,500 acres of zoned open space. It will generate tens of thousands of vehicle trips per day, further impacting our already overloaded streets and intersections.

The additional financial burdens (road maintenance, emergency services, libraries, etc.) that come with more residential development will drain taxpayer pocketbooks and exacerbate our bankrupt condition.

And what about development that is already approved but has not been completed? Why might the county entitle more development when Rancho Santa Margarita is still not completed (approximately 4,000-5,000 units to be built) and construction of 2,500 units at the Los Flores project--immediately north of the Horno site--has just recently begun?

I think that the public is deeply concerned about these and other issues and how their quality of life will be affected by developments, such as the Horno, that are proposed in the county.

However, since we are uninformed of such plans, the county will continue to process these projects in the usual manner with little public input.

With regard to the Horno project, it was not public apathy that was responsible for a poor showing at the hearing. A good deal of the responsibility lies with the way in which the project has been portrayed by the county.

For instance, the project’s official title is: “Antonio Parkway Roadway Alignment and Land Use Plan.” I have no doubt that the county performed its legal duty by placing hearing announcements in the “Public Notice” sections of local newspapers, including this one. However, most would consider what appeared to be a “road alignment” hearing as a fairly innocuous event, and not bother to attend. I have done so myself.

The county needs to be less disingenuous in the way they inform us about their plans for our future here, especially during our serious fiscal crisis.

No one came to the hearing because no one was told what it was really all about.

PAT DeSIMONE

Manager

National Audubon Society

Starr Ranch Sanctuary