Irvine Co. Eliminates Thousands of Homes From East Orange Plans

The Irvine Co. has dramatically scaled back its development plans for the hills east of Orange, deciding to build no more than 2,500 homes and eliminating a proposed commercial center, city officials said Wednesday.

Company officials unveiled their plans to cut the development about 75% in private meetings with city leaders this week, just days after Irvine Co. Chairman Donald L. Bren announced the donation of 11,000 acres of ranch land for permanent open space.

In doing so, the Irvine Co.--one of the state’s largest private landowners and among the nation’s biggest developers--would be giving up development rights for as many as 10,400 homes on 6,500 acres near the Eastern toll road. Now, the final phase of the company’s Santiago Hills development will take place on just 1,400 acres. The company also has approval to build 1,746 homes in another phase of the plan on the western side of the toll road.

“It’s just a phenomenal reduction,” Councilman Dan Slater said. “I’m thrilled.”

However, some council members wonder whether the smaller project--without the commercial center--will generate enough tax revenue to pay for the cost of providing services to the new residential area, which the city has planned to annex.

“I’m thrilled that there’s not going to be the traffic and development, but the city was also looking to play catch-up [there] with sports parks and a library,” Councilwoman Carolyn V. Cavecche said. “Does the city want to annex another residential area that will be a drain on our services? We’re going to have to get creative.”

Slater said he hopes city officials can work with the company on the cost issue.

“We are hoping that the quality of construction raises the tax base to a level that will support the infrastructure costs,” he said. “We will examine all of that very carefully with the help of a consultant.”

Company officials confirmed Thursday that it held discussions with city leaders this week but declined to provide details of the project.

Irvine Co. spokesman Rich Elbaum said more discussions will begin over the next four to five months with other city and community leaders, including planning commissioners and school district administrators, to shape the final development proposal.

Councilman Michael Alvarez said city and community groups should reconsider the overall plan for east Orange in light of the drastic reductions in homes and loss of commercial space, as well as remaining environmental and traffic issues.

“This is our last big project and we need a lot more feedback,” he said.

Environmentalists were generally pleased by the news. Several groups worked with the company to reduce the density of developments in east Orange, where existing approvals could have doubled the size of the city. A college student filed a lawsuit challenging a draft environmental review of an earlier phase of the project.

“We had been anticipating thousands and thousands of homes out there,” said Mike Boeck, a director of the Clean Water Now! Coalition. Going from 10,400 homes to 2,500 or less “sounds like a great deal to me.”

Theresa Sears, a board member of Friends of Harbors, Beaches and Parks, said the move to reduce what will be built in east Orange was a good move by the Irvine Co.

“In this economic climate and this period of uncertainty, I think the Irvine Co. is making some very wise choices,” she said. “They are taking a lot of the risk out of what they do.”

Bren’s open-space gift includes thousands of acres of northeastern Orange County and a controversial 173-acre parcel linked to the Laguna Coast Wilderness Park. It effectively preserves more than half of the 93,000-acre ranch from development.

The announcement came last week at a press briefing, which was followed by a company-hosted reception at the Four Seasons hotel at the Irvine Co.’s Fashion Island in Newport Beach, where about 200 conservationists and public officials heard the news.

Bren also announced he will add $10 million to a $20-million fund established last year to support management and restoration of natural habitats and to improve public access.