County Adds Irvine Co. 377-Acre Canyon Parcel to Laguna Coast Park

Orange County supervisors Tuesday approved dedication of more than 350 acres of canyon land as part of Laguna Coast Wilderness Park, an addition hailed by environmentalists who had fought hard for the property.

The land is next to the Irvine Co.’s Newport Coast development, a 635-home project above pristine Crystal Cove State Park and the company’s last major coastal development. As part of its negotiations with local and state regulators to proceed with Newport Coast, the developer agreed to dedicate 377 acres of Muddy Canyon in three installments to the wilderness park.

“Today’s action is great news,” said Supervisor Tom Wilson, whose district includes the canyon. “Muddy Canyon is the missing link, the final piece of open space that completes the coastal portion of Laguna Coast Wilderness Park.”

Environmentalists said Tuesday’s action followed a long campaign that involved a lawsuit and subsequent negotiations with the Irvine Co. and the state Coastal Commission.

“This area in Muddy Canyon is in fact the key open space connector we had wanted and achieved,” said Elizabeth Brown, president of Laguna Greenbelt, a local preservation group.

Though the developer’s so-called set-aside is small, Brown said, it is one of the last pieces in an open-space jigsaw puzzle that creates a continuous 17,000-acre swath of rugged parkland in a crescent from the former Aliso Pier north to Newport Coast Drive. It includes Laguna Coast Wilderness Park, Aliso and Wood Canyons Regional Park and Crystal Cove State Park.

Initially, Los Trancos Canyon, the wilderness area nearest Newport Coast, was physically separated from the 2,700-acre Crystal Cove State Park by Muddy Canyon, a steep grassland.

Environmentalists filed a lawsuit against the developer in the late 1990s citing concerns about the project’s housing density and the need for a land bridge connecting Los Trancos to the wilderness park. The Irvine Co. subsequently included the Muddy Canyon acreage in its open-space plan.

“Originally, it was all going to be developed,” Brown said. “We’re very indebted to the Irvine Co.”

Of the 10,000 acres in the overall Newport Coast project, 7,900 acres will be open space, Irvine Co. spokesman Richard Elbaum said.

Tuesday’s approval is for the first installment of the Muddy Creek acreage, said Eric Jessen, chief of the county’s Harbors, Beaches and Parks Division. The rest is to be dedicated to the wilderness park in two installments after geologic tests and other engineering studies are completed to set the boundaries of the housing project, he said.

The Irvine Co. project was halted in October 1999 after regulators with the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency and U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service questioned its potential effect on wildlife and water quality.

They noted that urban runoff from the homes would drain across state beaches, into ocean recognized as a dolphin birthing ground and an “area of special biological significance.”

To address those concerns, the developer now is proposing a water quality package that included diverting some runoff into a sewer system, placing filters in catch basins and other safeguards.