Let’s Keep It This Way

Even a casual observer driving along Ortega Highway, not far east of San Juan Capistrano, senses something special in the surrounding gentle landscape. These undeveloped foothills and valleys are a unique remnant of a once-great wilderness.

Called Rancho Mission Viejo, these 25,000 acres are what remain of a Mexican land grant. Today, golden eagles still soar, mountain lions roam, and rare steelhead trout swim in San Mateo Creek. It is our best window into California’s special past and, perhaps, into what we in South County would call our very heart and soul.

Preserving these resources and heritage is critical to preserving the quality of life we enjoy and expect in Orange County. Our youth and their own children deserve an opportunity to experience these treasures here in our “backyard,” not just to hear of them in stories. The businesses of Orange County need these regional amenities to attract good employees and ensure a healthy economy. Natural lands like these also enhance property values.

The good news is that all of Rancho Mission Viejo is zoned for open space in the county’s General Plan. Ranching and agriculture are the predominant uses and have been for generations. Yet the company or companies in charge, some of whom are from out of state and don’t share the rich history of this land, have proposed to fundamentally change the General Plan for this area, a plan developed with much thought, care and public input. The proposal to convert open space to massive development would, by unleashing traffic congestion and dirtying our air and water, affect our way of life.

Chiquita Canyon, for instance, the finest remaining representation of Orange County’s original, natural landscape, would be filled with sprawling tract homes and strip malls. The great ranchlands south of Ortega Highway would be converted to luxury subdivisions. Glossy public relations brochures that promote massive development on these remarkable landscapes can’t make right the fact that San Mateo Creek would no longer deliver clean water to the coast.

And the proposed plan from the companies operating this land was conjured up without any community input or concern for the impact on its neighbors. That should be unacceptable to all of us.

The companies made these proposals without any consideration for the process that, in 1993, they and the county promised would provide a scientific foundation for the planning of this important portion of Orange County. If that promise can be broken, what other promises might be broken next?

This critical planning process is a state program called Natural Community Conservation Planning. Designed to balance economic and environmental goals, and started by former Gov. Pete Wilson, it tells us what is needed for this region’s ecosystem to survive so we can build in more appropriate locations. Already under this process, for example, more than 15,000 units of housing have been approved in the original 1993 study area, including 8,000 units on Rancho Mission Viejo itself.

We’re told that a “great family tradition” is to be protected on this working ranch. If that were the real goal of the Rancho Mission Viejo developers, then I would ask, “Why not make use of the NCCP process to truly gain public input, to work with our neighbors and to help finance land acquisitions and easements, thus enabling the family to leave more of the land as it is and truly maintain that family tradition?” After all, the NCCP has proved a successful way to access state and federal funds to help achieve similar important public goals.

The answer may be disturbing. Out-of-state developers have become recent partners with the Rancho Mission Viejo Co. They may be leading the way to more traffic congestion, overcrowding and pollution. Without a public process, we’ll have no say until that damage is done.

As a community, here’s how we need to act:

* Through the NCCP process, scientifically identify those large portions of Rancho Mission Viejo needed to sustain the ecosystem, its wildlife, the quality of its waters and the natural lands.

* Closely consult with neighboring communities on what sort of development should occur on other parts of the ranch more suitable for planned development. These communities cannot and should not be left out of the public planning process.

* Form a community coalition, pursuing local, state and federal sources, to assemble a funding package specifically designed for these purposes and that ensures that the family owners will be reasonably compensated and their stewardship and legacy preserved.

At a time when everyone is concerned about clean air and water and our quality of life, I hope our regional leaders and our communities will work together. Nothing short of these actions will guarantee our own quality of life, our own heart and soul. Nothing short of this will pass on to our children what they deserve.