3-Acre Tract Bolsters Cityhood Case, Activists Say : Land dispute: They say the transfer to Mission Viejo is being rushed through before Laguna Hills residents can vote on incorporation.

For civic activists here, the fight over a wedge-shaped, three-acre tract of land is yet another example of why Laguna Hills should become its own city.

The parcel lies just north of Pacific Park Drive on Cabot Road next to Interstate 5. Although the land is located inside the proposed city limits of Laguna Hills, it is about to be transferred by the county to the city of Mission Viejo as part of a deal that will allow the Mission Viejo Co. to develop a larger strip of land along the freeway.

Many Laguna Hills residents fiercely oppose any development in the area, citing concerns about increased traffic along Cabot Road and the adverse effect a commercial strip could have on the upscale Nellie Gail Ranch neighborhood.

But because Laguna Hills is not yet a city, it is politically impotent to stop the deal and cannot protect itself from encroachment by developers.

The Board of Supervisors is expected to vote this week to give the land to the city of Mission Viejo--just one week before Laguna Hills residents vote on cityhood on March 5.

Many Laguna Hills activists are angry over what they see as a rush to push through development before the cityhood vote, particularly since the development will affect nearby Laguna Hills neighborhoods.

“The Mission Viejo council is doing exactly what they accused the county and Mission Viejo Co. of doing when they incorporated,” said Ellen Martin, chairwoman of the Committee to Save Laguna Hills. “Agreements are being struck, deals are being struck before Laguna Hills incorporates.”

The Mission Viejo Co. will not say what types of businesses will eventually be built in the area between Pacific Park and La Paz Road, but Martin and others have been told to expect a high-density “highway commercial” development on the land they hoped to keep as open space.

Without knowing specifically what environmental problems to anticipate, residents are certain that the already busy Cabot Road, which runs along the property, will become a traffic nightmare because of the proposed development.

Officials for the county, Mission Viejo and the developer denied that they are trying to rush approval of the land swap before the Laguna Hills cityhood vote. They said they are simply meeting the legal requirements of a deal that has been in the works for several years.

“If the incorporation vote is successful,” Mission Viejo Co. spokeswoman Katherine Faith said, “the city will not be in place for six months, and the planning and construction process will not stop or slow because of potential incorporation.”

The small wedge of land is located just north of Pacific Park Drive between Cabot Road and the Atchison, Topeka & Santa Fe Railway Co. tracks. Part of the property will be used by the developer to build a bridge over the tracks that will connect Cabot Road with its 49-acre tract that stretches along Interstate 5.

When the county approved in 1985 the tentative parcel map for the highway commercial development, it required the developer to provide access from Cabot Road into the property.

The Local Agency Formation Commission included the land in Mission Viejo’s city limits when the new city was created in 1988. That move was opposed by Laguna Hills residents because most of Mission Viejo is located on the eastern side of the freeway, and the tract is located on the west side at the foot of Nellie Gail Ranch.

“They (Mission Viejo) will get all the (tax) revenues and they do not have to care what it looks like,” Martin said of the visual and traffic impact the development will have on Laguna Hills.

Martin and other civic volunteers have not been able to persuade the Board of Supervisors to delay a vote until after the incorporation vote so that Laguna Hills can negotiate concessions that would soften its concerns.

Supervisor Thomas F. Riley, in whose district the property lies, was unavailable for comment. Board Chairman Gaddi H. Vasquez, whose district includes Mission Viejo, said that as a matter of courtesy, he would follow Riley’s lead on the vote.

But Vasquez said that even if Laguna Hills voters approve the cityhood measure in March, the new city does not become official until December. So it is unlikely the new city will have a place at the negotiating table any time soon.

“You cannot enact an agreement with a body that does not exist,” he said.

Martin and Laguna Hills Community Assn. President Brad Foreman said that at the very least, county officials should not approve the deal without extracting commitments from Mission Viejo or the developer that traffic needs will be met.

Mission Viejo officials said everyone will have an opportunity to review the proposed development when more specific site plans are filed and traffic and other environmental studies are conducted.

“We will not approve any obnoxious uses such as a jail or a toxic waste dump,” Mayor Robert A. Curtis said, adding that Mission Viejo officials will discuss, but not negotiate, development plans. “The community and the city of Laguna Hills should not have veto power on the city of Mission Viejo on how that property is being used.”