Abbey, Monastery Near Deal to Buy Land
A deal to buy and preserve most of the land slated for an unpopular mobile-home development in Trabuco Canyon could be complete by August, an attorney involved in the negotiations told county supervisors this week.
Ed Connor, president of the Orange County Bar Assn., represents officials with an adjacent Ramakrishna monastery and Roman Catholic abbey in their attempt to buy the troubled Saddleback Meadows land, which was approved for building 20 years ago and has been mired in controversy ever since.
Connor said the religious groups and Aradi Inc., the project’s developer, are within $700,000 of an agreeable sales price and still must negotiate water rights for the property, some of which will be retained by Aradi to develop.
“The devil is in the details, and we’re not immune from that simply because I’m representing priests,” Connor told supervisors.
Supervisor Todd Spitzer, who has been brokering the agreement, asked both sides to come back Aug. 11--hopefully with a signed agreement.
If an agreement can’t be reached, the company will continue processing a development plan for 299 higher-priced homes on the 222-acre parcel to replace its current zoning for 705 mobile homes. Connor said St. Michael’s Abbey and the monastery will oppose any new development plan.
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