Referendum on Quality of Life : Growth: Heated debate over $2-billion Moreno Valley project pits pro-development forces who promise jobs against those who say it will further erode the frayed desert area.

To its advocates, the $2-billion proposed mega-development known as Moreno Highlands is just what this swiftly growing community needs: an orderly mix of residential, commercial and park projects that also manages to preserve the desert environment--and create thousands of jobs.

“It has all of the amenities that a person living there could ask for,” Councilwoman Judy Nieburger said.

To its detractors, Moreno Highlands is something else entirely: an abomination that will further erode already frayed suburban lifestyles--and may fail in its mission to attract jobs.

“We’ve already paved over enough of Southern California,” said George Hague, a teacher who is among the most outspoken project antagonists. “We need someplace to escape to and enjoy what used to be here.”

After months of sometimes contentious hearings, the Moreno Valley City Council voted unanimously last week to approve Moreno Highlands, a virtual mini-city rising out of the desert 70 miles east of Los Angeles. The development is projected to draw more than 25,000 residents to about 7,800 new homes, ranging from low-income apartments to luxurious equestrian estates.

The fierce debate has evolved into a kind of referendum on the future of Moreno Valley, a bedroom community of 130,000 that was one of the nation’s fastest-growing cities during the boom years of the 1980s.

As rows of look-alike tract housing continue to overtake the desert, and smog increasingly obscures mountain views, Moreno Valley is coming to embody the dark side of jumbled suburban expansion, critics say.

Concerns over quality of life provide the backdrop for heated discussions of the Moreno Highlands project, which has pitted pro-development forces against those who say they seek to preserve one of the region’s last expanses of open space.

“This is a disaster, both for the citizens of Moreno Valley and for the wildlife of the area,” said Hague, a 16-year resident and former planning commissioner who is spearheading the opposition.

Critics, including environmentalists and others worried about galloping growth, say they will press ahead with efforts to modify the project, even if it means a lawsuit in state or federal court. They favor a greatly reduced version, which project supporters say is not financially feasible.

Those who favor Moreno Highlands view the opponents as no-growthers who are uncomfortable with any development. “Unless you were born in this town, you don’t have the right to say you don’t want anyone else to come in,” said council member Cynthia Crothers, who voted for the plans. “Besides, this will create jobs for our community.”

Apart from the 7,763 homes, Moreno Highlands includes space for 10 schools, police and fire stations, two golf courses, an 80-acre “village center,” a 500-acre business park, a library and 24 miles of new roads.

The project site and nearby parklands--including the state-run San Jacinto Wildlife Area and the Lake Perris State Recreation Area--provide foraging grounds for scores of bird species, including golden eagles and peregrine falcons. Much of the site is also a study area for the Stephen’s kangaroo rat, a nocturnal rodent listed as a federal endangered species.

“This has the potential for reshaping how endangered species are dealt with in the entire country,” said Anthony Metcalf, a biologist with the San Bernardino Valley chapter of the national Audubon Society.

Moreno Highlands would sprawl across 3,038 acres of desert flatlands--much of it long used for agriculture--just west of the imposing hills known as the Badlands and about half a mile south of California 60.

Supporters say developers have gone out of their way to ensure that wildlife habitats will be preserved and that no harm will come to the endangered rodent and other animals. About 268 acres will be preserved for wildlife; the developer has also agreed to help acquire 130 acres for the San Jacinto Wildlife Area, a nationally acclaimed avian habitat.

“This plan has been very, very carefully developed to reduce all its impacts, and everybody but this small group believes it is successful,” said Laer Pearce, a project spokesman. “Completely frivolous,” is how Pearce dismisses opposition arguments.

But Curt Taucher, spokesman for the California Department of Fish and Game, said the configuration is inadequate for protecting wildlife habitats in the northern San Jacinto Valley, the broad expanse that includes the project site.

City Council approval was a critical turning point for Moreno Highlands, although critics had long anticipated that lawmakers would throw their weight behind the endeavor to boost the ailing building trade. Developers still face reviews at the county, state and federal levels, where opponents say they will strike again.

“This isn’t a done deal yet,” Hague said.

Almost seven years in the planning, the long-delayed groundbreaking for Moreno Highlands is not expected for another year; construction is scheduled to take up to 15 years.

Providing funds for the immense venture are two groups of U.S. investors: the Cohen family of Denver, which has financed large-scale developments in Los Angeles and elsewhere, and the Crown family of Chicago, part owner of the Chicago Bulls basketball team and principal shareholders in General Dynamics, the giant defense contractor.