Trabuco Canyon Developers Shift Plans
The developers of a controversial housing project in Trabuco Canyon that was rejected by the Board of Supervisors this week announced Wednesday that they are moving forward on a plan to build a 705-unit mobile home park instead.
Aradi Inc. said it will seek a permit to grade the site, a prelude to construction of the trailer park that was tentatively approved by the board about 20 years ago but abandoned in favor of a proposal to build 318 homes.
After the supervisors Tuesday turned down Aradi’s request for a zoning change that would allow the homes on the 222-acre tract, Supervisor Roger R. Stanton vowed to stop all development at the site, which had been zoned for mobile homes in 1975.
Stanton has asked the county’s planning staff to advise the board by Nov. 5 how the county can rescind the 1975 zoning map and block Aradi’s plans.
Stanton said he wants the land, a pristine patch that borders the northern boundary of O’Neill Regional Park, to remain free of development, in accordance with the wishes of St. Michael’s Abbey and the Ramakrishna Monastery, which are located at opposite ends of the Aradi property.
“My sole intent, and I made no secret of it, was to erase the map approved by the former board [of supervisors],” Stanton said Wednesday. “It was nothing less than an abomination on that land, literally an obscenity.”
But Aradi attorney William Ross said the company “has a legal right to go forward” with the mobile home park, provided it meets all conditions set by the county and other governmental agencies.
County Planning and Development Director Thomas B. Mathews said that Aradi previously applied for a grading permit for the mobile home park in 1994 but withdrew it after the company was told it would have to submit a new environmental impact report.
Although county officials 20 years ago approved such a report that was filed by the first of several owners of the property seeking to build a mobile home park, Mathews said the old report is outdated.
Aradi withdrew the grading application two years ago and submitted a revised proposal earlier this year for the 318 homes, which failed to win approval by the commission in July. The developer appealed to the Board of Supervisors, which killed the project on Tuesday.
But on Wednesday, both Mathews and Ross said that the issue over what to do with the Trabuco Canyon site owned by Aradi is far from over. Both men said that Aradi could submit a proposal for a new project altogether and start the review process anew.
In addition, if Aradi decides not to go ahead with plans for the mobile home park, the company can resubmit the same 318-unit project for board consideration next year. The board will include two new members in 1997, raising hopes among supporters of the 318-unit project that they can gain an additional vote for passage of the plan.
Supervisor Jim Silva, who received campaign contributions from both Aradi and project opponents, abstained from voting Tuesday.
His recusal resulted in a 2-to-2 vote. When the four supervisors could not agree on a compromise, they voted unanimously to spike the project.
Some officials said privately that they expect Aradi to sue the county if the supervisors find a way to rescind the tract map for the mobile home park.
Aradi would have to file an “inverse condemnation” lawsuit against the county--basically the opposite of a condemnation, which governments use to take away property for public use in exchange for a payment to the landowner of the property’s fair market value.
But winning such a lawsuit is a difficult challenge, said Irvine attorney Robert Waldron, who specializes in condemnation cases. Aradi would have to prove that the county was liable for denying the mobile home park and making development economically unfeasible.
County Counsel Laurence M. Watson agreed. If the county succeeds in reverting the property to open space, it would not mean that Aradi cannot develop it, he said. “They could try to develop something else,” Watson said.
