Planning Commission - Sins of Omissions

Last time we looked at the Planning Commission from the POV of political cronyism and the sheer inanity of the conduct of some of the members. Even more distressingly, we looked at the history of the current PC and found –

• more decisions appealed and more decisions overturned than in the prior 20+ year history of the City with more appeals on the way.

• more resignations from the PC (and the Council) than in the City’s prior 20+ year history.

With the result that –

• By continuing to allow an over-concentration of stores selling alcohol in our city, we have one of the highest rates for violent crime among our neighbors.

• By allowing 5,000 new homes to be built, the PC will add more than 40,000 vehicles trips per day to a city that already has more deep concerns about traffic congestion than any other City in South Orange County.

Today we want to focus not so much on what they’ve done, but what they haven’t done.

PERMISSION TO PLAN

It was long the position of Commissioners Hamilton and Fuentes that the PC dare not do any planning unless specifically instructed what to do by the Council. Sounds ludicrous, doesn’t it? But when the basis of your appointment to the PC rests on your friendship and/or allegiance to the politicos that put you there, you tread cautiously. The Voigts-Robinson coalition made this very clear after Robinson took office when they unceremoniously swept out all 4 members of the PC and the PRC (Parks and Recreation Commission).

But contrary to the often spoken beliefs of Hamilton and Fuentes, the PC has its own state-mandated charter and has wide ranging authority to engage in a variety of actions and investigations. In fact, I did some homework and gave copies of these authorities to the PC as well as City officials, just in case anyone had any doubts.

The courage of the PC is such that it took an inordinate amount of time for them to show even their baby teeth, and they did this by asking the Council “May we, please sir?” The Council responded disdainfully and the PC was off and running with a topic of their own devising. Oops – I said “their own”. Actually it was the brain child of Commission Head Andrew Hamilton and the PC’s latest attention could be turned to one of Hamilton’s perceived major problems. What exactly does Hamilton think is so important that the PC should take it up as their first semi-independent investigation. You’ll have to wait for that revelation. First let’s consider one of the major pressing planning problems confronting the City.

WATER

When the Council interviewed candidates for the Planning Commission and asked for the one greatest problem facing planners, Col. Tom Cagley said it succinctly – “Water”. No one else even came close.

Several years into a major drought, water is a concern for almost every thinking person. The prospects of fining residents $500 a day for “wasting water” are no longer idle threats. This weekend the drought made front page news in The OC Register. Many HOAs have cut back so much on their watering that the lush green grass meadows are looking a bit brown at the edges. Here in Lake Forest we face the prospect of 5,000 new homes - the average family of 4 uses 400 gallons of water per day, so multiply 400 gallons by 5,000 homes and the result of the PC approval of 5,000 more homes is an incredible 2,000,000 million gallons a day of additional water being used.

Most of these folks are going to be living in HOAs and the PC has approved lush landscaping, along with lots of parks and recreation areas. Irrigation of the vast green spaces will result in hundreds of thousands of more gallons being used by these new projects. Take Baker Ranch for example. They pride themselves on “an 8-acre community park to be dedicated to the City (known as Baker Ranch Community Park), an 8.39-acre central park, a 5.05-acre park at Borrego that includes a multi-use trail for jogging and bicycling, and seven neighborhood parks.” Sounds great! But in the middle of a drought is this tenable?

It’s admirable that they plan to use drought tolerant plants, water efficient plumbing, and reclaimed water, where available, but where is the analysis of the ability to provide water? How can IRWD and El Toro Water District be asking us to conserve at the same time that we are building so many more homes that the impact of the conservation will be nullified by the increased usage?

Would you rather have 12,000 new people living in 5,000 new homes, or be able to drink a glass of water and take a shower?

So here is a topic that shouts out for attention. Here is a project that a Planning Commission worth its salt should undertake because it is an impending crisis and there IS something we can do about it.

Of course, had they been at all conscious in the past they would have never approved the number of new homes that have been approved, but even now, after they’ve dealt the residents of this City a savage blow by possibly reducing our access to water in the near future, there are still steps they can take.

Medians – The City seems set on creating beautiful water-intensive medians even in sections of the City where people don’t want medians. Surely medians that require extensive plantings should be put on hold.

Lakes – Lake 1 and Lake 2 fill their enormous lakes with the same water we need to drink. Why hasn’t the Planning Commission come up with a way to send reclaimed water into the western part of the City where Lake 1 and Lake 2 as well as The Village Pond Park can be served by reclaimed water?

These are merely examples of the ways in which the City could be “planning” to deal with an enormous problem that promises to get worse before it gets better. Yet the problem of access to water is not on the PC's agenda.

Next time we’ll look at two more issues, and then reveal the issue that is so vital to the quality of life in Lake Forest that the PC asked the Council for permission to proceed.