Council Preview - More Homes in Lake Forest

Lake Forest will undoubtedly get even more homes after the City Council meeting this week.

Lake Forest has approved nearly 5,000 new homes, with 15,000 new residents, and nearly 80,000 new vehicle trips per day, all of this with no new schools, no new civic services (libraries, post offices, etc.) and no new roads. For many years developers have spent hundreds of thousands of dollars to help elect City Council members who in turn have approved every single development project put before them, even in the face of opposition from residents as well as staff.

Now, once again, a developer comes before the City Council, asking to build more homes, and having greased the wheels of government with a substantial investment in 2014 helping to elect Scott Voigts and Andy Hamilton. In fact, between Voigts, Hamilton, and Robinson, developers have spent more than $100,000 to put them in office, and none of the “Gang of 3” has neglected to return the favor.

The latest quid pro quo comes from Meritage Homes who are asking to convert 5.7 acres at the SW corner of Alton Pkwy and Commercecentre Drive. The parcel is zoned “light industrial” and intended for “high technology” businesses, but significantly more profits can be made by the developer if the zoning is changed to residential.

The proposed project would include 52 “small-lot single-family detached” 3 bedroom homes averaging about 2,000 sf on 2600 sf lots, and some basic HOA amenities.

In addition to having spent thousands of dollars on the campaigns of Voigts and Hamilton, the developer will also pay the usual developer fees which come to $2,869,869. Included in this figure is $450,548 “in lieu” fees so that the developer doesn’t have to include affordable homes as part of the plan. Earlier this year we demonstrated how allowing developer to pay “in lieu” fees was disadvantageous to the City, but the developer-friendly City Council members allow this nonetheless.

The developers assure us that there is sufficient water to accommodate the new homes and landscaping at the HOA, even at the same time the IRWD is asking the rest of us to cut back on our water usage. They also assure us that there is sufficient electricity, even while SC Edison has brown outs, service interruptions, and offers hefty incentives for us to shut off our air conditioners in the Summer. Meanwhile, without the electricity from San Onofre the ability to supply the region at the current low rates for electricity is being re-assessed.

If I were a betting man I would bet that my developer-funded colleagues will vote to give Meritage what they ask for, and with the 3 votes Voigts-Robinson-Hamilton normally cast as a bloc vote, this is enough to give Meritage the go ahead.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Dr. Jim Gardner is on the City Council for Lake Forest. You can check him out on LinkedIn and/or Facebook and you can share your thoughts about the City at Lake Forest Town Square on Facebook. His comments are not meant to reflect official City Policy.

Dr. Gardner has office hours every Tuesday from 4 pm to 6 pm at the City Hall. In addition, he holds a Town Hall meeting every quarter. The next meeting will be on Dec 12 at 2 pm at the El Toro Public Library.

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