Planners Back 1,000-Acre Community : Development: The commissioners overruled concerns of environmentalists in supporting the project near Mission Viejo.

SANTA ANA —  Overruling concerns raised by environmental consultants, the Orange County Planning Commission on Tuesday unanimously backed a proposed planned community near Mission Viejo.

The proposal, which would allow as many as 2,500 homes and apartments to be built on about 1,000 acres, came under fire from an array of environmental organizations during a 4 1/2-hour meeting. But at its conclusion, the commissioners held a straw vote in which they voiced some concerns but signaled overall approval for the development.

The project, known as the Las Flores Planned Community, is being proposed by the Santa Margarita Co., one of the county’s largest and most influential development firms.

“This project has support,” commission Chairman Stephen A. Nordeck declared at the conclusion of the grueling session. “We just need to get a couple of things worked out.”

Among the most hotly debated points was a corridor intended to protect nesting birds in Arroyo Trabuco, a 5-mile stretch of canyon east of Mission Viejo. The arroyo is home to a variety of birds, and several species could be threatened by the development if steps are not taken to protect them, said Karlin Marsh, a biologist who studied the area under contract with the county’s Harbors, Beaches and Parks division.

Marsh recommended that the county trim about nine more acres from the project proposal, reserving it as buffer to protect the species inhabiting the arroyo. On a 3-2 vote, however, the commissioners rejected that proposal.

Nordeck and Commissioner Thomas Moody voted in favor of the restriction, while A. Earl Wooden, Roger D. Slates and C. Douglas Leavenworth opposed it.

After the meeting, Marsh said the commission had probably doomed the birds in favor of the homes.

“We’ve shut down the area for nesting raptors,” she said, adding that red-tailed hawks and black-shouldered kites would be the most seriously affected. “They will no longer be there. Period, end of discussion.”

Although board members heard that argument during their session, many indicated that they believed that the project’s potential benefits--in particular, the construction of relatively low-cost housing in a county desperately short of it--outweighed potential damage to birds and other wildlife.

In addition, the county planning staff and the developer agreed to several conditions that are expected to reduce some of the environmental damage caused by the project.

The company, for instance, has agreed to delete so-called Planning Area 7, a housing tract on the project’s southern edge. Eliminating that area from the plan could cost the company $2.5 million to $3 million in lost housing sales, according to Dan Kelly, vice president of governmental relations for the Santa Margarita Co.

The company also reconfigured other housing areas and eliminated a community park that county officials said could crowd species living in the arroyo.

Although much discussion centered on environmental issues, commissioners also raised concerns about the amount and type of affordable housing that the project will include. Kelly, however, reassured commissioners by providing them with a proposed condition committing the company to providing 60% of its housing for less than $250,000.

Included in that will be housing units classified as “affordable” to people earning about 80% of the county’s median income, a figure that varies along with average salaries of county residents.

Kelly described himself as “gratified” by the commission’s vote Tuesday but cautioned that final Planning Commission approval is still at least a week away. The commission will meet again Tuesday and is expected to approve the project at that session.

The commission will then forward it to the Board of Supervisors, which will make the final determination on the project.