Canyon Trails
by jim sill
About this time last year I wrote a story about Beazer Homes' Santiago Canyon Estates bulldozing a stock pond in order to make way for an upscale 78 home development. Not to worry, said I, because three environmental agencies were on top of it, with mitigation due by the end of '97.
At the federal level, the Army Corps of Engineers representative
assured me that a new stock pond would replace the old one by year's end.
State Fish and Game were interested in the well being of the local wildlife--I
interpreted this to mean local birds and mammals. Closer to home, the County's
Natural Communities Conservation Program was working on "1.7 acres
of fresh water wetland habitat."
When I followed these agencies up in September of '98, a very different environmental picture emerged. The new stock pond is nothing more than a shallow dirt pit. Unlike the deep one located on chaparral covered hillsides, Beazer located the new pond next to their main road into their development. If or when it's ever finished, local critters will have to cross this busy street, or Santiago Canyon Road, or go through the new community itself to get water. But hey! it'll look great to potential new homebuyers.
Fish and Game lost interest when they found out that the old stock pond contained no Riverside Fairy Shrimp, an endangered species.
And the 1.7 acres of wetland habitat? Well, it's being worked on. Supposedly the pond will be replaced by guzlers, and other "ponds"; but these new ponds won't be nearly as deep as the old one, and will likely dry up in the fall when they're needed most.
Commentary
How did this happen?
First, let's give credit where credit is due. Beazer, like other well connected developers, hired some damn good environmental consultants who know how to handle bureaucrats. They obtained a federal level "Nationwide 26" permit for the environmental mitigation measures. Such permits are not subject to public review or notice. These permits are even more attractive because they are fee free to developers.
The lady who first told me about the bulldozing waited until the bulldozers went to work, even though I've been told she knew several months before that they were going to do this. You have a louder voice before the fact than during or after.
Here's my mea culpa: I didn't follow up for a year. Bureaucrats can get sloppy when the light of public scrutiny doesn't continually shine on them. The other reality is, today's bureaucrat is tomorrow's well-paid developer lobbyist, and many don't want to do anything to anger a future employer.
And why did three public environmental agencies allow such a deadline slippage? The developers told them that the ground was too unstable from the El Nino rains to do all the necessary grading. When I reminded these representatives that the developer didn't seem to have too much of a problem grading those housing pads, and erecting lots of new houses on that "unstable" ground, they indicated that they hadn't thought about that.
But the developer sure did. And, in case you didn't know it, the developers run this place. If a local environmental agency leans too hard on a development, the developer places a call to the congressman or councilman whom he helped get elected, the official calls the local environmental agency, and the environment takes another hit. And another. And another...
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Despite strong local opposition and ancient landslides which are said to lurk just beneath the soil, Orange County's planning commission approved the controversial Saddleback Meadows project on Santiago Canyon Road, just before Live Oak Canyon Road.
Despite the fact that this plan was denied a year ago, despite the fact that negotiations were underway to acquire 178 acres for open space, and despite the fact that the current Trabuco Specific Plan Review Board was supposed to review this project prior to approval, it was approved. This is the same property that was originally slated for a mobile home park; the same property over which former third district supervisor Bruce Nestande teamed up with a former fireworks magnate (who eventually went to jail for bribery) to get the zoning changed.
According to the Trabuco Specific Plan, "EMA shall forward all discretionary permit applications to the Foothill/Trabuco Specific Plan Review Board for their review and recommendation at least 21 days prior to Planning Commission consideration of the application." These rules were apparently circumvented in favor of the project. County planner Frank McGill also indicated, according to a local news source, that the Trabuco Specific Plan would soon be amended to allow other projects similar to Saddleback Meadows.
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A variance has been applied for in order to develop four homes between Olive Road and the water pumping station on the left as you enter Modjeska Canyon.
The president of the Modjeska Residents Association has written a letter to County planner Frank McGill, requesting that the many mature oaks and historic olive trees that cover the property be preserved. In a telephone follow-up, McGill indicated that "conditional zoning approval" would be predicated on approval of an "area plan" before the property could be sub-divided. The letter indicated that the canopy created by the property's oaks and olive trees makes this is one of the prettiest drives in Orange County. It continues to earn the county "location" money when advertising agencies use the area for print and electronic marketing communications. And to those of us who live in the canyon, the soothing sight of that canopy means we're finally home.
The developer is a long-time canyon resident.
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Status as "second class citizens" or a "re-focus on community based firefighting" depends on who you ask.
Come January 1, 1998, the status of volunteer firefighters will change. After a two year review, the Orange County Fire Authority wants to initiate a new reserve firefighter program in which there will be two classes of volunteer firefighters: reserve firefighter, and reserve officer. According to Fire Authority spokesperson Capt. Scott Brown, all paid volunteers will have the opportunity to join the new force.
Not everyone may want to. According to a local volunteer with over 20 years of experience, pay will be cut from the current $8.00 per call to around $2.00 an hour. According to this source the "new" system is just an old fashioned power grab by the County's unionized 720 full time firefighters who want more money and overtime, but are afraid that the Fire Authority will simply dip into their pool of eager, well-trained volunteers to fill "professional" manpower requirements.
Not so, said Brown. The Fire Authority values its volunteers and wants them to continue in even more of a community based program. The new payscale was adopted, he said, because of federal labor law that precludes "volunteers" from being paid more than the minimum wage. The new system will afford more training, and result in better local coverage than is the case now. For example, Brown cites the reduction of planned cover assignments (where local volunteers are sent to cover other stations already engaged in firefighting activities) in favor of volunteers remaining in the communities they know and serve. The exception, he said, would be "the mother of all fires." Then resources would be allocated as necessary, he said.
The local source said that, because of the significantly lower volunteer payscale and increased training time, new recruits will actually be discouraged from volunteering at all. In addition, he mentioned what he sees as "attitude" on the part of paid firefighters many of whom, he said, view volunteers as scabs in a union battle. He opined that the new system will actually lead to a reduction in service and an increase in some form of taxation to pay the new full time firefighters who will be needed as attrition decreases the ranks of the volunteers.
There are currently about 600 volunteer firefighters in Orange County, including those manning, uh, personing Stations 16 (Modjeska) and 14 (Silverado).
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If you're a canyon resident you likely noticed all those county trucks loaded with rock running up canyon. You probably asked yourself, "Don't we have plenty of rocks already?"
Sure, Modjeska has lots of rocks. They just aren't where the county wants them. The county has placed them as rip-rap along Santiago Creek where it runs through the Modjeska Wilderness Reserve which lost a lot of real estate during this year's El Nino rains.
They have most of the rock in place now. More will be brought in to reinforce the footings around the new bridge that will replace the old "new" bridge which was uselessly stranded after the last rains. The new bridge will be a railway flatbed car. The project is slated for completion by Thanksgiving.
Commentary
Let's hope that flatbed car doesn't overturn or get jammed with fallen trees that creates a dam, and a wall of water downstream when or if the dam breaks.
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