Panel to Discuss a Growing Concern

The fate of shrubs lining Lake Mission Viejo, which have grown into a controversy, could be settled Monday at a Planning Commission meeting.

Commissioners will decide whether the shrubs eventually will block the view of the scenic, 124-acre lake for the many joggers and motorists using Alicia Parkway.

If they find that the low-growing oleander and calliandra bushes along a 1,500-foot stretch of the lake are a public nuisance, commission members could order the bushes be removed.

“If I have someone coming to town, I want to drive them by and say, ‘See, ain’t that [lake] beautiful with the [Saddleback] mountains in the background?’ ” said W. W. “Tex” Shannon, a Mission Viejo resident who wants the shrubs removed. “This is an environmental asset that I don’t want to lose.”

Officials of the Lake Mission Viejo Assn., which charges $13.50 a month to about 22,000 households to maintain the lake, say the shrubs would be cropped before growing tall enough to block anyone’s view.

The group, citing property rights, will oppose any city order to remove the bushes, which were planted to spruce up the lake’s appearance for boaters and fishermen, association General Manager Bill Schwartz said.

“Our board doesn’t believe that the city has the right to request” pulling out the shrubs, Schwartz said. “We will go as far as we need to to make that point.”

City officials say the shrubs violate a city ordinance that requires a site plan before any type of barrier is placed along the lake. The City Council approved the ordinance in 1989 when the lake association proposed building a wall in the same location.

Among the definitions of barriers in the ordinance is landscaping, which the city says includes shrubs.

“The people value that view of the lake,” Community Development Director Clint Sherrod said. “That’s a community feature.”