Article by Joel Zlotnik
An eclectic mix of community leaders held their inaugural meeting Thursday to begin shaping the future of the 23,000-acre Rancho Mission Viejo, a step many are calling precedent-setting.
Fifth District Supervisor Tom Wilson selected the 23-member group that ranges from environmentalists to chamber of commerce presidents. Wilson proposed the task force after south-county residents said they wanted their voices heard earlier in the planning process for the ranch that once stretched from El Toro to Oceanside.
Rancho Mission Viejo released preliminary plans in July to build up to 14,000 homes along with schools, churches, retail and commercial space, and a 1,000-acre regional park, while setting aside 14,000 acres for wildlife and habitat preserves.
One of the early critics was Dan Silver of the Endangered Habitats League. Thursday, as a member of the committee, he called the process "precedent-setting in Orange County."
"I'd like to see the group embrace the spirit of collaboration that Supervisor Wilson has initiated," Silver said.
"This is an opportunity to take a project that could end up delayed in decades of contention and litigation and actually gain broad public support."
The group will meet for six months and provide input on land use to county planners and ranch developers. It is composed of representatives from south-county cities, schools, environmental advocates, business leaders, builders, affordable-housing advocates, park proponents and residents. A second task force is being formed to explore water-quality issues.
David Dale-Johnson, a professor at the University of Southern California's Lusk Center for Real Estate, said developers have long tried to answer stakeholders' concerns, but not necessarily in a formal way like this.
"In years gone by voters were probably willing to depend on elected representatives and staff they hired to sort through issues," Dale-Johnson said. "We're now in a much more activist environment, where people in the community are quite willing, and want to stand up be counted."
Ranch spokeswoman Diane Gaynor called the effort a "milestone" in Orange County planning and said that input from the group is welcome.
"We're great believers in this process and always interested in hearing people's comments," Gaynor said.
Task force member Gary Tucker, president of the San Juan Capistrano Chamber of Commerce, said this could serve as a "master plan of master plans for other communities to follow."
Tucker said the broad-based group has a chance to get everyone on the same page as the planning process moves ahead.