Building Concern on Barham Ranch

* As residents directly overlooking Barham Ranch and the surrounding area, we are concerned over the potential sale of the land and development of the area (Aug. 9).

As we are all too aware, Orange County is becoming more developed and, as a result, more congested.

While part of that comes with the passage of time, there are certain areas that require special attention and protection.

Part of the reason for our moving to this area was the open, undeveloped spaces. Over the past 10 years, we have witnessed a significant increase in the development of new homes and the infrastructure to go along with it.

This has occurred even though there had been an enormous slowdown in construction as a result of the economy. Rather than building out, it appears that much of the development has gone inward.

This process has encroached on wildlife and natural habitats, created congestion and detracted from much of the natural beauty of Orange County.

Helping to keep Barham Ranch undeveloped and working to incorporate the land into the surrounding parks would be a positive step toward preserving some of the remaining beauty of this local area.

We got married in one of the parks, Santiago Oaks, which would be adversely affected should this development go forward. Part of [the reason] was its natural beauty and isolation from development.

We hope to bring our children and their children to the park to show off its beauty, seclusion and the site of our marriage.

On a recent visit we were able to see homes already being built in the distance. Further development would ruin the natural beauty of the area for future generations and adversely affect the wildlife that exists in the area.

ERIC STERNLICHT

CHRISTY STERNLICHT

Orange

* The Serrano Water District has owned Barham Ranch for more than 100 years. Since the mid-1970s we have held an undivided half-interest ownership of this property with the Orange Unified School District.

Our district has been attempting to sell the Barham Ranch property for the last 10 years. The proceeds derived from this sale would be used to retire debt and build the necessary facilities to ensure a safe and reliable water supply for the foreseeable future. That is our job.

An offer to purchase the property by SunCal Cos. not only includes a purchase price of $10.4 million, but SunCal has proposed additional school and financial support to the Orange Unified School District.

Further, the developer is committed to devoting a significant portion of the existing property to open space. That open space would complement the existing parks adjacent to the Barham Ranch.

C.L. “LARRY” PHARRIS JR.

President, Serrano Water District

* While reading the article about Barham Ranch, a line from one of my favorite Neil Diamond songs came to mind: “Money talks, but it don’t sing and dance and it don’t walk.”

Barham Ranch is like a song and a dance and a walk, a hike, a ride on a bike or on horseback.

It is home to native plants and animals that need the open space to survive. Money just can’t be the only consideration in the face of all that Barham Ranch is.

SYBIL LEFFLER

Orange

* The hour to decide the fate of Barham Ranch, in the foothills of Orange, is at hand.

Five hundred and twenty-six pristine acres are threatened by planned development. That acreage, unspoiled for centuries, must be saved as recreation area and nature preserve for our children and generations to come.

Well-worn trails and foot pathways give evidence of use by hikers, mountain bikers, horsemen, naturalists and others. Dozens of bird and animal species make their home in the rugged hills and flood plain that this acreage comprises.

Already 1,200 houses are being built or have been completed in the immediate area. Six hundred more houses would destroy irreplaceable habitat for wildlife, deprive Orange County residents of vital fast-disappearing open recreational acreage, and in that area, critically impact an overburdened Orange Unified school system.

Will we allow the ugly scar of a developer’s blade to mar one of our last pieces of natural habitat in Orange, or will we do the right and proper thing: preserve Barham Ranch for all the people of Orange County.

DAN and KARIN DURFEY

Orange

* I was very pleased to learn that the Orange Unified School District rejected yet another offer to sell the Barham Ranch.

When the property was sold to the school district and the Serrano Water District, it was intended for open space use, education and agriculture education.

The original lease and sale agreement made these conditions perfectly clear. I can’t understand why the Serrano Water District wants to sell the land to a developer.

If it was only a matter of saving their shareholders money on water bills, that could be accomplished by selling the Serrano Water District to a larger water company that gets water and services at a less expensive rate.

This would certainly be meeting their fiduciary responsibilities to their shareholders.

Barham Ranch is an important wilderness bridge to the animals inhabiting Barham Ranch, Weir Canyon, Santiago Oaks and Irvine Park. It would be a crime to plant asphalt, cement and people in place of what God and man have previously set aside for its use.

MARTY POORT

Orange