Development in the Foothill-Trabuco Area

A small number of Orange County developers will reap fortunes if tentative plans are approved favoring intensive development (destruction?) of the Trabuco Canyon and Cook’s Corner areas. The question is: at whose expense?

Certainly the 500 or so residents of Trabuco Canyon will pay dearly as they see their quality of life deteriorate around them. But so will the countless residents of neighboring areas who regularly or even occasionally take that slow drive beneath the living canopy of oak trees that line Live Oak Canyon Road. It’s hard to get a few minutes of natural serenity like that in Orange County today. In fact, it’s difficult to even find a rural area anymore in Orange County.

The Trabuco Canyon area provides a rural retreat for the high density communities of Rancho Santa Margarita, El Toro, Mission Viejo, Portola Hills and others. Don’t destroy one of our last remaining rural retreats just so a few more developers can make another quick buck.

The developers will still make money enough on their land holdings if development under the Foothill/Trabuco Specific Plan now being considered by the Board of Supervisors is limited to a few homes on large parcels. And most important, the rest of us won’t have to sacrifice more quality of life for the profit of a few.

WILLIAM BRECHTEL

Trabuco Canyon