Public hearings continue Monday on the environmental...

Public hearings continue Monday on the environmental impact report for the controversial Foothill/Trabuco Specific Plan, which would establish development guidelines for 6,500 acres of backcountry east of Mission Viejo. County planners have recommended that 1,700 new homes be allowed in the hill and canyon country.

Environmentalists gained a victory last week when the Planning Commission recommended that Rose Canyon Road--a three-mile-long proposed road through Trabuco Canyon--be eliminated from the county’s master plan of highways. The County Board of Supervisors is expected to vote on the specific plan later this year.