Development Has Passed Full Scrutiny

* We serve as land planning consultants to the Binion family. I am writing concerning the feverish attacks leveled by Messrs. Williams and Moore (Letters, June 25) on the Planning Commission-approved development plans for the 22-acre Binion property in Laguna Niguel.

The property master plan was approved by the Laguna Niguel Planning Commission after 14 city hearings, countless hours of testimony, and the preparation and circulation of two environmental impact reports.

* More than $200,000 has been spent by the Binions on city planner evaluations of the property over the past five years.

* The land is proposed for development without a single variance from city standards, and conforms with all applicable development regulations.

* The plant community on the property is not listed as endangered, threatened or rare by state or federal laws. In fact, about five acres of our marine chaparral will be dedicated to the government for preservation.

* We would like to preserve all the chaparral we can, but we have Fire Department regulations to follow.

* No nature trail is erased, as charged in the Williams letter. As a condition, a new public trail will be built and given to the government.

The property is not “another gated community in the middle of a city park.” Its only proper access is through the existing gated entry at Monarch Point. The Binion property is zoned for high-density attached residential development, not as a city park. The property is adjacent to a county park and provides buffering as requested by county planners.

We agree with writer Moore about the goal of protecting natural resources. For the privilege of developing homes, we are mandated to give two-thirds of our private property to the government through fee dedication or easement.

PHILIP BETTENCOURT

Newport Beach