No Relief for Worried Portola Hills Residents

City Hall was jammed once again last night as anxious Portola Hills residents shared with the City their concerns about the changes on Saddleback Ranch Road (Click Here). There were even more speakers this time, and Leah Basil, President of Portola Hills 2 HOA presented a petition with more than 800 names to ask the City to call a halt to the program and correct the potentially hazardous conditions being created.

More than a dozen people spoke out. A few praised some aspects of the work, especially around the school, but the vast majority were critical of the changes.

Mercedes A told of the problems making a right turn with an RV on several streets.

Walter M worried that the cars are so close to the sidewalks now that there is a clear and present danger to pedestrians, especially people using bikes, or walking dogs, or even playful children. He also pointed out that large vehicles with large side mirrors are extending onto the pedestrian walkway. This problem with the side view mirrors was pointed out by others including Jane B.

Sue Hi reiterated her concerns with evacuation. She worried that with these changes, how easily can the 6,000+ people evacuate Portola Hills in the event of a fire or an earthquake? FWIW I asked the Director of Public Works some time ago to give me the actual figures in answer to this question and have yet to receive a reply!

Annette G was worried about the ability of fire trucks to reach Portola Hills homes. Linda T was equally concerned about the ability of emergency vehicles to get through because there are no places where other vehicles can turn off to allow them access. Gayle M said she spoke with the Fire Chief and he too was worried about access for the very large fire trucks.

Many people (Linda T, Grady G, Ellie B, Mageda Y) mentioned the bicycles problems (e.g., limited space for bikes, bikes sharing lanes with cars, etc.) and also worried that bike riders would be subject to “road rage”.

Other speakers mentioned the absurdity of the City using potable (ie., drinkable water) in landscape medians during a drought. Still others complained that their section of town was being ignored and left out of the discussions.

The City Manager gave a long description of what the City has been doing in the two weeks since the last meeting, in which my colleagues (Voigts, Robinson, Hamilton) refused to place the issue on the agenda for last nights’ meeting. FWIW – Voigts and Hamilton continue to assert that the process should remain in place and do not want to agendize the issue at this time. Councilman Robinson was absent last night so we didn’t learn if his views had changed.

The City Manager reported that the City has

• · Talked to the original designer to “rethink” the plans
• · Talked to a third party planner
• · Plans to meet with the HOAs (hopefully they will not leave out the ones they left out before)
• · Send out a postcard to Portola Hills residents asking them if they want to be kept informed of what’s happening.

I kid you not. This is “our plan”! While Rome is burning, the City will send out postcards.

There is no plan to halt construction on those areas where it seems patently obvious that we’ve made a mistake. The City will continue and finish and then re-evaluate. It’s not clear how many accidents or fatalities will be required to get any changes to the plans.

I fully understand that to make major changes at this point raises legal questions and may also cost the City some additional expenses. But where is the legal opinion? Where are the results of negotiations with the current contractors? Where is the evidence that we are at least considering these options? None of this was in the City Manager’s report.

Next week the City’s Traffic Advisory Group will meet on Tuesday and thankfully this group has agendized the discussion. But this group is merely advisory to the Council, and the Three Amigos (i.e., the coalition of Voigts, Robinson, and Hamilton) seem intent on doing nothing until the project is completed. Mayor Voigts did assure the audience many times that he heard their concerns, but people wanted more than to be heard, they wanted their concerns to be taken seriously and they wanted action in those cases where it is clear that we are on the wrong road (no pun intended).

Personally I’m not a traffic engineer or a city planner so I can’t comment on the technical aspects of this project. I recall the saying “You don’t have to be a weatherman to see which way the wind blows” and it seems to me and to dozens of people who spoke and hundreds who signed a petition, that we are making some serious mistakes which endanger the safety of our residents. I’ve seen nothing from the City to allay my fears, and the report that I requested from the Director of Public Works has yet to arrive on my desk.

What can we do? Please share your thoughts on Lake Forest Town Square . The City Attorney advises me not to comment on The Patch because I may inadvertently violate the Brown Act since people post anonymously and sometimes it is my colleagues on the Council who are posting under a nom de plume. Lake Forest Town Square requires people to log in using their Facebook identity, and City Council members are not allowed in the group, so I am free to discuss issues.

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 Foothill Ranch Public Library.

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