Board to Consider Trabuco Project; Silva Is Swing Vote
The Orange County Board of Supervisors today will review a plan to build up to 318 houses in Trabuco Canyon in a project that has become one of the most controversial in recent memory.
A divided Orange County Planning Commission failed to reach an agreement on the development, Saddleback Meadows, in July, thus requiring the supervisors to decide the issue. The developer, Aradi Inc., wants to build 318 homes, while a planning staff alternative recommended a maximum of 299.
Opponents and supporters of the project have both resorted to hiring expensive lobbyists and private detectives to press their positions with county officials.
The project site, located off El Toro Road, up the highway from Cook’s Corner, borders St. Michael’s Abbey and the Ramakrishna Monastery, both of which oppose the development. The monastery has threatened to sue the county to recover 240 acres it donated that became part of O’Neill Regional Park if the project is approved.
Two supervisors support the project and two oppose it. The swing vote on the board, Supervisor Jim Silva, unknowingly received laundered campaign contributions from the developer, who was later fined $14,000. Silva said he gave the unused funds to charity. The chief lobbyist for opponents of the plan also is on a committee that is raising campaign funds for Silva.
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