Officials Back Off Bid for Canyon Youth Jail

Sealing a victory for environmentalists, Orange County officials have dropped their appeal of a court ruling that halted construction of a juvenile detention center in rustic Trabuco Canyon.

The action, which occurred earlier this week as part of a court settlement, ends the county’s four-year effort to build the 90-bed Rancho Potrero Leadership Academy adjacent to the Joplin Youth Center.

The county had planned to build the $18-million Rancho Potrero facility as a way to relieve overcrowding at the Joplin center, which has 64 beds for youthful offenders. The Saddleback Canyons Conservancy and the Rural Canyons Conservation Fund sued almost two years ago to stop the proposal.

In August 2002, a Superior Court judge in San Diego, where the case was moved at the request of the plaintiffs, blocked Rancho Potrero on the grounds that it violated state environmental laws and local planning regulations that require development to be consistent with the canyon’s rural character.

In an attempt to build the facility, the county carved out a special exemption for itself from the Foothill-Trabuco Specific Plan. The judge ordered the action set aside, calling the move arbitrary and capricious.

More than a week later, the same judge concluded that the county planning department had ignored its own zoning guidelines and hid from the public details related to the clearing of vegetation in the project area.

The county appealed the Superior Court ruling. Meanwhile, attorneys for both sides worked out a settlement. The terms are now being implemented.

Among other requirements, the county must withdraw its approval of Rancho Potrero and the exemption to the Foothill-Trabuco Specific Plan. It also must restore cleared areas at the Joplin site and pay $230,000 in fees to attorneys for the environmental groups.