Supervisors OK Project Near Two Monasteries

Despite pleas that the monastic lifestyle of two nearby religious retreats will be ruined, the Board of Supervisors approved construction Tuesday of up to 299 single-family homes on a controversial parcel of undeveloped land near Trabuco Canyon.

Supervisor Todd Spitzer said he had nothing to show except frustration after nine months of negotiations but voted in favor of Saddleback Meadows, a housing project originally approved 20 years ago for 705 manufactured homes.

Canyon area residents and attorneys for nearby St. Michael’s Abbey and a Ramakrishna monastery have been fighting the project ever since.

Attorney Edmond Connor, who represents the abbey and is president of the Orange County Bar Assn., pleaded with supervisors to hold off on making a decision so he could continue negotiations on behalf of the abbey to buy most of the property while allowing development on a small corner of the property.

But Spitzer, as well as Supervisors Charles V. Smith and William G. Steiner, said further delay would unfairly penalize the landowner and voted for the project.

Supervisor Tom Wilson opposed the project, saying he couldn’t support more than 225 homes on the development. Board Chairman Jim Silva abstained from discussion because of a past campaign donation from landowner Aradi Inc.

The supervisors’ action will be challenged, said longtime canyon activist Ray Chandos. Nearby residents also hope to persuade state and federal wildlife officials to deny the development because of intrusion on a sensitive wildlife corridor that biologists want preserved.

The worst part of the vote, Chandos said, was allowing the project to be exempted from the area’s hard-fought specific plan, which guides development in one of the county’s last rural enclaves. “It wasn’t a matter of effort, it was a matter of will,” Chandos said. “All [supervisors] had to do was to say no. Instead, they chose to [side against] residents versus the profit levels of an outside speculator.”

Aradi bought the property, with its 705-home entitlement, four years ago. In 1996, the company agreed to reduce the number and type of homes to be built, but Trabuco Canyon activists protested that the smaller plan would ruin the pristine area.

For the past year, Connor and benefactors for St. Michael’s Abbey have attempted to reach an agreement with Aradi representatives to buy most of the property to preserve as wilderness while allowing construction of about 130 homes on 44 acres. Recently installed Catholic Bishop Todd Brown joined the fight by telling supervisors that any larger development would destroy the tranquillity of the abbey.

The purchase plan fell apart as late as this past weekend when both sides couldn’t agree on an acceptable amount of grading. The plan approved Tuesday calls for 8.9 million cubic yards of grading across the entire site.

Lobbyist Frank Elfend said Aradi remains willing to continue talks with the abbey about the size of the project, which faces El Toro Road. He said Aradi has spent millions of dollars during the negotiations.