Baker Ranch Squeeze - "Let the Market Decide."

Yesterday we looked at the claims of the Baker Ranch peopele that their 30 acre site should be changed from commercial to residential because the changed area would generate less traffic congestion and use less water and electricity. We saw that neither of those claims was necessarily true. Today we want to get one step beyond these claims.

CHANGING THE RULES

Years ago, the Baker Ranch entered into an agreement to use this space for commercial purposes. That proposal was one part of a multi-part proposal that included thousands of acres of land and Billions (with a B) of dollars of revenue for the Baker Ranch. This is America and all the more power to them. Having now exploited the rest of the multi-part proposal to the extent of their abilities, and profited handsomely, Baker Ranch LLC now want to change the rules. Imagine if you went up to the cashier at the race track and said you picked your horse to come in 1st, but now that you see the way the race finished, you’d like to change your ticket to 3rd place. Or go to the Las Vegas croupier after he gave you a King to go with your 13 points, and tell him that you really didn’t want that hit after all.

It’s hard to believe that a Planning Commission that prides itself on “caveat emptor” and continually says “let the market decide”, now wants to change the rules in the middle of the game, and say to the rich and powerful Baker Ranch people – “We’re sorry your prediction that this space was going to work for commercial purposes was incorrect, and we want to change our General Plan so that you don’t have to suffer any undue hardships.” The Baker Ranch has profited handsomely from their multi-part deal with the City, and if this one small aspect hasn’t worked out extremely well for them yet, it’s hardly the job of the City to make them whole. Baker Ranch can do what any other business would do. They can sell the land to someone who is prepared to use it for commercial purposes, or they can continue to hold it until they feel the economy is right for whatever commercial purposes they envision. In any case, Baker Ranch stands to make lots of profit from the deal, but their desire is to make even more profit even if it comes at the expense of the City.

THE NEW HOMES

The City has approved 4,700+ new homes, half of which are on Baker Ranch land, and over the next two years this will increase the City’s population by a whopping 15% and put more than 36,000 new vehicle trips on our streets every day. No one really knows how this is going to impact us. We know that traffic congestion is already a problem, and while the City is working on some band aide solutions, they are not likely to make things much better given the present circumstances, much less with 36,000 more vehicle trips on the streets every day.

We know that finding a reasonable parking spot at the El Toro Library, or at the Raymond street post office, or at the DMV in Laguna Hills is nearly impossible now. Add 10,000 more adult drivers and imagine what it will be like then.

We expect that electricity and water are going to be in short supply in the near future, so how will these 4,700 additional homes impact that problem?

The risk/reward ratio is clearly in favor of waiting a few years to see how well we handle the 15% increase we’ve already (fool-heartedly) approved, before adding more fuel to the fire. If by some miracle the City’s plans to mitigate traffic actually work, and if the drought doesn’t continue, and if the now shuttered San Onofre power plant can be replaced with enough solar roofs, and if the Internet continues to grow and lessen the need to use the post office, library and DMV, at that point we could certainly entertain the thought of approving even more homes. No one is against more homes, but no one is in favor of traffic jams, stressed public resources, and going without water and electricity. The prudent action is to wait until we’ve seen what the impact of the already approved 4,700+ homes will be.

Tomorrow we want to look at the Best Use of the Land.