Stanton’s Plan Would Protect Trabuco Site

The Board of Supervisors on Tuesday will take up a proposal by Chairman Roger R. Stanton to block development of 222 acres in Trabuco Canyon that has been at the center of controversy for two decades.

The meeting comes two weeks after the supervisors rejected a proposal by Aradi Inc. to build 321 homes on the site. The proposal was strongly opposed by neighbors, including two religious institutions, St. Michael’s Abbey and Ramakrishna Monastery.

The picturesque site, near O’Neill Regional Park, is already designated on the county’s zoning map for a 705-unit mobile home park. Aradi Inc. officials said last week they would move forward with the trailer park.

But Stanton wants the board to prohibit any development on the land. County attorneys said the supervisors would have to rezone the property if they wanted to block the mobile-home park.

Supervisor Don Saltarelli has expressed concern that rezoning the land might infringe on the developer’s rights, and that it could prompt a lawsuit against the county.

Saltarelli wants the county to consider buying the land and setting it aside as open space or adding it to nearby O’Neill park. He agreed with development critics that the property’s rugged terrain makes it a less-than-ideal site for residential development.

“I think a park or open space is a viable option,” Saltarelli said. “It’s something we should consider.”

The county recently sold a vacant parcel in Orange to a housing developer for about $9 million. Saltarelli said he is looking into whether a portion of that money could be used to buy the Trabuco Canyon site.

Trabuco Canyon resident Marie Walsh, who opposed the Aradi Inc. development, said using the land as a park makes sense. “It should remain open space,” she said. “It’s not a good or safe location for homes.”