Good news, and thank you Todd Spitzer!

The Orange County Board of Supervisors voted on Dec. 15th 2015, by 3-2, to overrule the recommendation of its planning commission and rescind the spot zoning in North Tustin that would have allowed the Catholic Diocese to build a large, 2-story assisted living center ("Bethsaida") just north of 17th street at Newport Blvd.

​The project would have been on a 6 acre site where North Tustin's Specific Plan (NTSP) says no commercial facilities can be built.

Linda May, Treasurer:
Nominated for another 2-year term.

Janet Wilson, Director
Nominated for another 2-year term.

Steve Duff, Vice-President
Nominated for one year to complete the 2-year term started by his board appointment in Jan 2015

ICL has obtained a notification from the state Department of Fish and Wildlife ("DFW") that allows Silverado homeowners to legally remove dead trees and some debris from the creekbed on their property.
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THIS IS ONLY FOR SILVERADO CANYON PROPERTIES
There is a separate post on the blog here for Modjeska Canyon homeowners.

The county needs to replace the box culvert on Silverado Canyon Road near Smisek Ranch Road. The current runoff runs over the road, and the existing drainage is not working.

Regina Hu, a senior engineer from county public works, along with two others presented on this at the Nov. ICL meeting to explain details and answer questions. Her presentation slides are at the bottom of this post and they give details of the project.

Representatives of the Save the Plans Coalition, including ICL, met with Supervisor Spitzer in mid-September to discuss reverting out the FTSP specific plan and Orange County general plan changes made near the end of Sup. Bill Campbell's tenure to enable the development of tract homes near Cook's Corner.

The changes made gutted vital plan provisions such as oak tree preservation requirements and traffic capacity limits, and the made it much easier for future tract projects to be allowed inside the canyons.

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Most Californian's know their all perils doesn't really cover "all" perils. Years ago I was astonished to discover my homeowners policy excluded meteorite strikes to my roof!

Most California homeowners know their basic insurance doesn't cover earthquake damage. What's less well known is it won't cover damage to your property and possessions from flooding and mud either.
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Are you prepared? The ShakeOut Drill is scheduled for 10:15 a.m. on October 15, 2015. This means that wherever you are at that moment—at home, at work, at school, anywhere—you should DROP, COVER and HOLD ON, just if there were a major earthquake occurring at that moment. And stay in this position for at least 60 seconds. There will not be any freeway closures, power outages, or other simulated effects of the hypothetical earthquake.

Thanks to Supervisor Todd Spitzer, David Myers of the Wildlands Conservancy and the strong voices of the people of Orange County, there is hope that the 660 acres known as the Irvine Mesa and adjoining lands can be permanently preserved.

Inter-Canyon League directors met with officials from the Wildlands Conservancy, Supervisor Spitzer’s office, OC Parks, the Transportation Corridors Agencies and the Conservation Fund.

First and foremost, the Wildlands Conservancy has no desire to sell any of the property for tract homes, and will not do so. They are considering an offer from a religious institution, but they would prefer to see the land protected and accessible forever if possible, and will work with us and county officials to make this happen, as long as it can be done in a timely manner. Per direction from Supervisor Spitzer, in the next two weeks OC Parks and TCA staff will tour the lands to ascertain if they would be suitable additions to a) county park lands and/or b) county mitigation land banking. Agency staff will also determine what funding is available to purchase the acreage at the sharply discounted price of $2 million. There is a possibility that a house on Silverado Canyon Road that is part of the for sale properties could be sold separately, reducing the price further.

The Inter-Canyon League remains committed to working with all the parties and to the preservation of these and other canyon lands that are valuable to us and to all the residents of Orange County. As always, we will do whatever we can to ensure that our rural way of life is protected and that we are there for our neighbors in time of need.

Let us know what you think!

The Mesa property in Silverado Canyon has been put up for sale by its owner, the Wildlands Conservancy, which needs to raise funds.

This is a wonderful 660 arce wilderness tract with existing trails, easily accessible and with parking close-by. And Wildlands is willing to sell this property at a substantial discount to the county, provided that it places the property into conservation. But the county must act soon.

Please email our supervisor Todd Spitzer: todd.spitzer@ocgov.com and tell him you support this purchase and ask that the county do everything possible to find the funds needed to make this acquisition happen.

You can find more information about this on the Save The Canyons Facebook page.

The ICL's Sil-Mod plan committee has been working with the county to help with drafting their new wireless ordinance. Because the Sil-Mod plan was adopted in the late 70s, it never envisioned the type of wireless infrastructure build-out we now are seeing. As carriers multiply and expand, and utilities enter, wireless expansion is increasing almost daily.

So we've been working to get the county's new wireless ordinance to reflect the overall goals of the Sil-Mod plan and prevent unnecessary and unsightly proliferation of new wireless structures that would adversely impact our canyon's viewsheds in the future.

This is not related to wireless coverage. It is just about where and how wireless facilities can be permitted and built. Many canyon residents in fact would welcome expanded wireless coverage in the residential canyon areas as it is currently poor in many areas. Nor is this ordinance concerned with wireless safety. Both of these are FCC matters.

The Orange County Register did a very thorough article on this, which also explains what the state is doing at the behest of industry lobbyists that could undo all the hard work that the county has put into it. That article is available here.