Judge Blocks Housing Proposal

A judge Wednesday handed a victory to environmentalists and two religious groups battling to preserve what they call a crucial piece of Orange County’s dwindling open space.

Orange County Superior Court Judge Robert E. Thomas ruled that procedural flaws in the county’s 1998 approval of the Saddleback Meadows development mean the developer will have to start the paperwork from scratch.

Unless overturned on appeal, the ruling could mean years of delay and drastic changes for the controversial proposal to build 299 homes on 222 acres adjoining wildlife reserves in Trabuco Canyon.

“This is a victory for all of Orange County,” said David J. Hesseltine, an attorney representing the Vedanta Society of Southern California, a Hindu organization that operates the Ramakrishna monastery near the site and one of several groups that sued the county and the developer. “We’re hopeful that [the county] can find a way to preserve the property as permanent open space.”

This is only the latest skirmish in a 22-year battle over the land, nestled in a bucolic area filled with oak trees, ponds, canyons and striking ridgelines. Development proposals over the years have taken many forms, from a mobile home park to a 318-home project.

The hearing centered on a procedural question about the proper interpretation of a tie vote. In February 1998, the Vedanta Society appealed the Planning Commission’s certification of the developer’s environmental impact report to the county supervisors.

Supervisor Jim Silva has abstained from voting on the project because its developer was fined $14,000 by the county for laundering contributions to his campaign. Silva was never charged with any wrongdoing. The remaining four supervisors split in a 2-2 vote, which the county interpreted as denying the appeal.

Opponents of the project sued, contending that by law a tie vote amounts to no action. The county argued that the vote was valid under a long-standing county policy and that such policies are common throughout California.

On Wednesday the judge agreed with the plaintiffs, ruling that the environmental report had not been certified and must be considered again.

The county’s lawyer discounted the possibility that the ruling will drastically affect the project. He said the county will appeal the decision and expects to prevail.

“The judge is in error and [was] misled,” said attorney Robert K. Break.

Environmentalists, however, say the victory allows the board to revisit several issues that they argue were whitewashed when the board approved zoning changes and other key project decisions in December 1998.

“We had a good day in court,” said Dan Silver, coordinator of the Endangered Habitats League, another plaintiff. “This procedural error now allows the county to go back and do a better job on biological, community character and religious institution issues.” Other groups that sued include Sea and Sage Audubon Society, Rural Canyons Conservation Fund and St. Michael’s Abbey, a Roman Catholic order near the site.

Environmentalists contend the development would strangle what state and federal wildlife officials say is a critical link used by gnatcatchers, mule deer, bobcats and many other creatures to travel between Whiting Ranch Wilderness Park and O’Neill Regional Park. “It’s the Holy Grail of wildlife corridors,” said Edmond Connor, another attorney for the Vedanta Society.

Silver said the wildlife corridor is the only link between the central and southern region’s Natural Communities Conservation Plan areas. Under that program, developers set aside large protected reserves of land and, in exchange, are free to build on smaller chunks of land that contain protected species.

“This project would preclude a successful NCCP program and that’s in nobody’s interests,” he said. “The decision allows the county an opportunity--a second chance--to get it right.”

Environmentalists also say the supervisors’ approval inappropriately exempted the project from compliance with the Foothill-Trabuco Specific Plan, a county planning guideline that limits development in the area. However, this and other issues were dismissed by the plaintiffs or ruled moot by the judge because of Wednesday’s court decision. Hesseltine said these issues could be brought up at a later date.

The abbey and the monastery’s initial concern was land stability--the canyon area is a nest of ancient landslides. The abbey lost a building two years ago because of slippage and subsidence. Construction of a large development would involve massive grading of more than 9 million cubic yards, which Connor said would endanger the area’s existing precarious balance.

“It’s one big, unstable mass of dirt,” he said.

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Development Under Fire

Environmentalists trying to halt the 299-home Saddleback Meadows development in Trabuco Canyon were dealt a legal victory Wednesday that sent the project back to its planning stages.