Rancho Mission Viejo

About 32,000 acres of oak-studded woodlands in southern Orange County, including land that's home to endangered species such as the California gnatcatcher and the arroyo toad, will be set aside as a nature reserve, federal wildlife authorities announced Thursday. Environmental officials have worked for more than a dozen years to preserve the foothills east of Mission Viejo, San Juan Capistrano and San Clemente, cities that have had high growth in recent years.

A lawsuit seeking to block development of Rancho Mission Viejo was settled Tuesday, removing one of the legal challenges to building about 14,000 homes and 380 acres of commercial space on the last remaining large swath of private land in Orange County. The suit, filed in Orange County Superior Court by the city of Mission Viejo after the county approved the project last year, took issue with how the county planned to deal with increased traffic resulting from the controversial development.

A settlement in a lawsuit by environmentalists seeking to block development of Rancho Mission Viejo was approved Tuesday by the Orange County Board of Supervisors, clearing the final legal challenge to develop 14,000 homes over two decades on the last remaining large swath of private land in the county. The settlement reduces development in key wildlife habitat areas and increases open space for wildlife.

The Transportation Corridor Agencies will do anything to build the 16-mile Foothill South extension through the San Mateo Campground and San Onofre State Beach (Dec. 18). This includes ignoring the real transportation needs for south Orange County -- dealing with the 40,000-plus new residents projected for the planned Rancho Mission Viejo development. The alignment that cuts through the San Mateo Watershed was intended to serve new housing once planned for the development's south section.

Development of the largest remaining swath of privately owned open space in Orange County began in earnest Friday with the release of a draft report on the environmental effects of construction planned for 23,000 acres owned by Rancho Mission Viejo. The company has been planning the project for a dozen years.

Rancho Mission Viejo's plan to develop Orange County's largest remaining swath of privately owned open space had its first public vetting Wednesday at a planning commission meeting that attracted an equal number of proponents and critics. The meeting at the county Hall of Administration in Santa Ana was for information purposes only. But the public comments provided a preview of the debate likely to follow as the county considers approval of the 23,000-acre development.

A draft environmental report for development of Orange County's largest remaining parcel of privately owned vacant land fails to consider hazardous waste at two military industry sites and doesn't explicitly set aside land for protected plants and animals, conservation groups charged on Monday. Officials with landowner Rancho Mission Viejo said the report is only a general roadmap of development effects and that more detailed analyses will follow.

As development plans for the 23,000-acre Rancho Mission Viejo come before the county planning board today, some say the project is being rushed at the expense of conservation efforts. The plans, which will be reviewed by the Orange County Planning and Development Services Department, call for 14,000 homes, about 380 acres of commercial and community space and 25 acres of golf resorts. Nearly two-thirds of the property would remain open space.

Marking the first official step toward shaping the landscape of one of the largest pieces of undeveloped land in Southern California, the Orange County Planning Commission on Thursday unanimously approved plans for the 23,000-acre Rancho Mission Viejo development project. Rancho Mission Viejo wants to build as many as 14,000 homes, 380 acres of commercial and community space and 25 acres of golf resorts. Nearly two-thirds of the property would remain virtually untouched.

With plans to develop Rancho Mission Viejo coming up for a crucial review Monday, Orange County Supervisor Tom Wilson is proposing that the developer ante up millions more for road improvements and environmental studies and dedicate 60 acres for affordable housing. The concessions are an attempt to mollify opposition to the 23,000-acre project, which could eventually put 14,000 new homes in rapidly developing south Orange County. About two-thirds of the land would remain open space.