Residents Blast Portola Hills Builder, Decry Development Plans

Fourteen Portola Hills residents spoke out at a city meeting Thursday night against a proposed Baldwin and Sons development that, if approved, will add 930 new homes to the community.

Many others filled the audience at  for a workshop hosted by the city's Planning Commission, aimed at gauging public opinion about the Portola Center project.

Speakers, all opposed to at least some aspect of the project, asked the commission and city staff to make the proposal more tenable to residents—or deny it altogether. Concerns ranged from the potential of increased traffic, to a rise in crime with the introduction of low-income housing, to overcrowding of local schools.

"I think the ultimate goal is finding a solution that works," said Stephen Haase, a senior vice president with Baldwin and Sons. "I'm not sure we're there yet."

Earlier in the day, residents met with Baldwin representatives and city staffers for a tour of the undeveloped land where the builder aspires to place hundreds of new homes. 

The Portola Center project would encompass two single-family neighborhoods north of Glenn Ranch Road; single-family and multi-family housing south of the road; and small shopping center to the south of the intersection of Glenn Ranch Road and Saddleback Ranch Road.

A total of 304 homes would be built north of Glenn Ranch; 80 to the west of Saddleback Road, 224 to its east. As part of its affordable housing requirement, Baldwin would also put 18 granny flats behind some of those homes.

South of Glenn Ranch would be 626 units; some single-family homes and some multi-family. A total of 57 would be affordable housing.

Residents expressed concerns about a variety of issues: increased traffic near Portola Hills Elementary School, noise from the construction, the accuracy of a traffic study done by the company, the ability of residents in the new community to escape a potential fire, and more.

One speaker likened the proposed retaining walls—which Haase said could reach 30 feet—to a "fortress."

Dave Herzberg, a 22-year resident of Portola Hills, said he is frustrated that the development plans don't address how traffic outside of the project area will be affected.

"It is psychotic. It is simply psychotic," he said.

At the meeting, he quoted a city document that says the role of the Lake Forest government is to "ensure the applicant delivers the best possible project, and the community receives the greatest public good.”

"That's what we're asking of you guys," he told the commissioners in conclusion. "That's what we're asking of all of you."

Herzberg and his wife, Lynn, have recently rallied neighbors to become involved in the planning process for the development. They have handed out 2,000 flyers about upcoming meetings and put up signs at the Saddleback and Glenn Ranch roads intersection, near where the developer plans to put up two gated entrances to the new community.

Portola Hills resident Mark Coutee went further, asking that the development be blocked altogether. 

"Please don't let Baldwin back in," he said. 

Baldwin and Sons is the reconstituted version of the company that built the Portola Hills community before going into bankruptcy. Many residents hold ill will toward the company for that reason, alleging that the homes Baldwin built in the 1980s and 1990s were shoddily constructed.

Coutee also said he feared a rise in crime with the addition to the community of the proposed low-income housing that Baldwin is required to include in the development.

Area resident George Blake also said he distrusts the developer. He urged the city to widen the scope of the project to include areas of Portola Hills that will also be affected, such as roadways near local schools.

"Thank you all for being here because it shows your interest in the community and that's important," said Jerry Verplanke, commission chair. 

He encouraged attendees to stay involved in the process.

"This is just the beginning," he added.

The proposed community is the last of five residential communities delineated as part of a massive rezoning effort by the city to bring residential development into an area once under the El Toro Marine Corps Air Base flight path.

Under the project plan, homes would be built on a 243-acre parcel of undeveloped land situated northwest, northeast, and south of the Glenn Ranch and Saddleback Ranch roads intersection.

If the proposal is approved later this year, the first house could be up by early 2014, Haase has said.

"We've waited a long time to get to this point and we'd like to move as quickly as possible," he said Thursday. "We're market driven. If there's demand for the homes we will build them. Right now we feel very comfortable that the market in Orange County is continuing to improve from what we see in Irvine and other areas."

Deadline for public comment on the Portola Hills project is 5 p.m. Monday.