Ranch Unrolls the Blueprints

Rancho Mission Viejo submitted its proposal Friday to build 14,000 homes on the last swath of privately owned open space in south Orange County, a plan that immediately drew criticism from environmentalists.

The development plan was filed with the county for 22,850 acres of the century-old O’Neill-Moiso family ranch above San Juan Capistrano. In addition to the housing, it calls for 5.1 million square feet of commercial space, yet sets aside nearly two-thirds of that land as open space for cattle grazing, farming, wilderness preservation and recreation.

“This will define the balance of development for the future of Orange County,” said Tony Moiso, president and CEO of Rancho Mission Viejo, the company that owns and manages the land. “It’s a thoughtful, caring, scientifically based plan. . . . We’re preserving more land than any developer ever would.”

But opponents say the company is moving forward with building plans before completing environmental studies on land that is home to several endangered species.

“The ranch is obviously more interested in ramming its massive development project down the throats of the local community than it is in helping to protect the environment,” said Andrew Wetzler, staff attorney with the Natural Resources Defense Council’s Los Angeles office.

The company is developing its land under the federal Natural Communities Conservation Plan, whereby company officials are supposed to meet with government agencies and environmentalists to work out a plan for preserving endangered habitats. Those joint sessions have yet to occur.

“It’s not appropriate for Rancho Mission Viejo to seek zoning changes until it first works out--through a collaborative process with the Fish and Wildlife Service--what land needs to be protected to preserve water quality and endangered species,” Wetzler said.

Rancho Mission Viejo officials are proposing a single project to be built over 30 years. That’s in contrast to other major county developers, who have built parcel by parcel, a method that has been criticized for allowing major development and ignoring cumulative environmental impacts.

“The alternative was to go canyon by canyon,” Moiso said. “The hue and cry is ‘Help us look at this whole thing at once.’ That’s what we are doing.”

Company officials said the proposal represents only a first draft, and years of negotiations lie ahead--including talks with anyone who wants a voice.

“We will talk to everybody who has even a remote interest,” Moiso said.

The proposal calls for a series of villages to be built on various parcels. The largest contiguous chunk of open space is a 9,200-acre parcel comprising the entire eastern border of the ranch. Company officials would not offer specific information about what the open space would be used for, but have suggested that this area would be set aside for ranching.

“We hope to continue ranching and farming,” Moiso said.

Some county parks officials were displeased with the open space plan when company officials shared it with them privately in August. The county had been negotiating with the company to add thousands of acres to the regional parks system. The county is instead being offered 1,100 acres that mostly meanders along a flood plain. Parks officials could not be reached for comment Friday.

Moiso said he has been disappointed with the way the county has handled some of the parkland his company deeded to it in the past. He referred particularly to Caspers Wilderness Park, where much of the land is off-limits because it is home to mountain lions.

By keeping the land in family hands, he says, he will be able to ensure that the public has access to it.

The plan submitted Friday also calls for 800 homes in the Chiquita Canyon area, home to endangered gnatcatchers and expanses of coastal sage scrub.

But critics say the Natural Communities Conservation Plan isn’t designed so that community members must take the company’s word for it--they are supposed to be involved in the planning.

“The ranch has chosen to go ahead and seek permission to build these houses before the community and residents have had an objective opportunity to learn more about the value of the land as open space and as the headwaters for clean creeks,” said Bill Corcoran, conservation coordinator of the Sierra Club’s Angeles chapter.

The public will get its first chance to comment when the proposal is officially presented to the County Planning Commission on December 5 at 2 p.m.

County officials will then list other opportunities to participate in the planning process.