Growth, Open Space Both Have a Price

Re “The Long View for Land Use” and “Congestion’s Root Clause,” (editorials, Dec. 16):

Is it possible that two Times Orange County editorials appearing on the same page on the same day (Dec. 16) were written by two different people who never talked to each other?

The first celebrates the Irvine Co.’s capitulation to the NIMBYs and the “I’ve got mine” crowd, placing thousands of acres of land off-limits to home construction. The second addresses congestion on the Riverside Freeway, but ignores the fact that it is a shortage of housing in Orange County that pushes more and more people into Riverside County and onto the freeway.

I hope that future Times editorials on the interrelated issues of land use and transportation provide wisdom, not a hall of mirrors.

Frederick Singer

Huntington Beach

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I have been an Orange County resident for 10 years and view without hesitation that the land in South County that has not been developed needs to be left alone.

We have limited the grounds of the wild animals drastically, and we should for their sake let them keep their homes.

Regardless of how much wealth there is in this county, we need to recognize that this is all that this county has left to leave alone. Having more homes will cause more environmental disruption and increase the congestion we are already experiencing. The money earned from development will provide jobs in the area but only temporarily. Next, the congestion issue will surface and by then too late.

Randy Rock

Tustin

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In business, “opportunity cost” means the cost of not making the most of an opportunity. For Orange County to thrive and grow, we must plan now for a healthy balance. New people will keep on coming, and we must develop affordable housing, infrastructure with which to move by air and on the ground, a good job base and other cultural and recreational amenities.

The “No-Growth, No Progress” folks forget about how we got all of the wonderful things we now have and enjoy in Orange County: Disneyland, Crystal Cathedral, the Performing Arts Center, Edison International Field, Arrowhead Pond, Fashion Island, South Coast Plaza, wonderful restaurants and theaters, and on and on.

Today, I wonder how anything can get built without some group planning a referendum or filing a suit. Let us not say no to all new development, but ensure that each new planned development (be it freeways, airports, offices, housing) has a balance between what is needed to grow for the future and what is needed right now to maintain our enviable quality of life. We must ask ourselves, “At what cost progress?”

Steve M. Stec

Newport Beach

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As an irregular commuter, I shake my smog-filled head at the thought of those poor souls who have to do it every day. Now we are reviewing the process of adding thousands of homes and “new” commuters to the already inefficient highway system. A logical analysis of all the stresses on the system, our health and outflow of our dollars suggests that we all look elsewhere soon. If every beach-city politician in California would ask how the urban sprawl inland is going to affect beach and ocean water quality, we could stop this money-grabbing insanity in its tracks. The stresses are near if not already at the breaking point. How much more are you going to take?

Michael Anfinson

San Clemente