Opponents of Expanded Camp Take a New Tack

Opponents of plans to more than double the size of a youth detention camp in the rugged foothills of the Santa Ana Mountains now are adding environmental dangers to their list of objections.

A group of residents calling themselves the Rose Canyon Conservancy are battling the proposed Rancho Potrero Leadership Academy, a non-enclosed camp for teen offenders that would operate separately from the Joplin Youth Center there.

The residents, who will square off against county Probation Department officials at a hearing in February, complain that heavy construction traffic will create dangers for hikers, bicyclists and horse riders. Residents also fear that runaways from the proposed Rancho Potrero camp could wind up on their doorsteps and that the addition would make it harder to evacuate the canyon in case of fire.

Probation officials, who operate the 64-bed Joplin Youth Center on the 388-acre site, say the $13.6-million expansion is needed to accommodate an anticipated 33% surge in the county’s teen population over the next decade. The camp is intended to build character in nonviolent offenders by removing them from the influence of gangs and putting them in a wilderness environment 1,800 feet above sea level.

The proposed camp would consist of eight single-story buildings surrounding a courtyard. It would house 30 girls and 60 boys, ages 14 to 17. Rancho Potrero would lie a short distance from the Joplin Youth Center.

In an environmental impact report filed last monthr, officials acknowledged that use of 1 1/2-mile-long Rose Canyon Road would indeed make the road more dangerous for drivers, hikers and equestrians. However, the Probation Department says it will upgrade the potholed route and eventually build a new access road to bypass Rose Canyon Road. Officials say they cannot wait to start construction because they would miss a 2003 deadline set by the state Board of Corrections, which is providing $8.4 million for the project.

The access route itself, however, would cross several wildlife corridors and areas of potential historic significance, according to the environmental report.

That report fueled a new round of complaints focused on the project’s effect on the rustic environment.

“Nobody wants this project if it’s going to destroy the environment,” said Gloria Sefton, a 12-year resident of Rose Canyon Road. “This is pristine wilderness. It’s detrimental to wildlife resources.”

As for danger from the teens themselves, probation officials said the residents’ concerns are exaggerated.

“We’re trying to be a good neighbor,” said Rod Speer, a Probation Department spokesman. “The camp is not surrounded by walls and barbed wire. Kids can, and in some circumstances do, walk away. That’s the nature of the situation. But the courts know this and take that into consideration when deciding who to send there.”

Some owners of the roughly 20 homes that line Rose Canyon Road agreed that the youngsters at the existing Joplin Youth Center have caused few problems. But the expansion would bring drastic changes, they contend.

“Joplin is one thing, but turning this part of Trabuco Canyon into a prison center is not what we came here for,” Sefton said. “This will not be a tenable situation for any of us.”

Others say the environmental impact of first widening Rose Canyon Road and later building a new road are not worth the expense.

“Spending all this money for just 90 beds makes no sense to me,” said five-year canyon resident Jim Iacono.

The project would have to be approved by the Foothill Trabuco Specific Planning Review Board, the county Planning Commission and the Board of Supervisors.

The Rancho Potrero Leadership Academy would actually be constructed on the grounds of an earlier and now defunct youth camp, according to environmental documents. The older camp, which closed in the 1970s, contains asbestos and would have to be razed.

Traffic on Rose Canyon Road from Joplin workers and visitors has long been a bone of contention with some residents, who complain that too many cars use it and threaten to spook horses and get riders thrown. Residents have even installed their own speed bumps to slow traffic.

“This is a serene place, and that’s why I moved here, to have a little land and a lifestyle,” Iacono said. “This plan takes both away.”

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Expansion Opposed

The county wants to expand a youth detention facility in Trabuco Canyon, but neighbors are trying to get the project killed.

Source: County of Orange