Canyon Crest Appeal Continues This Tuesday, 2 December!

The above photo was taken by me this morning from the North Ridge Trail of Chino Hills State Park and shows the area where the proposed 165- home luxury Canyon Crest development would go between the water tanks at left and the Hill of Hope religious retreat at right. This spectacular vista with the San Gabriel Mountains in the distance would be permanently and irreparably destroyed by this ill-advised project. Therefore . . .

. . .at the regular Brea City Council meeting, this Tuesday, 2 December @ 7:00 p.m. in the Council chambers at the civic center, corner of Birch and Randolph streets, the appeal continues before the Council seeking to overturn the approval of this project by the Planning Commission.

As I've stated before, I'm told that the portion of this meeting dealing with Canyon Crest will allow for public testimony on fire issues in light of the Triangle Complex fires that ravages tens of thousands of acres from Corona to Diamond Bar, including much of Carbon Canyon (and the site of Canyon Crest.)

Should this be the case, this is another opportunity for Brea residents and others to register their opposition (or, conversely, support) for this project with special emphasis on the fire risk. During the previous public testimony period before the council, a number of persons spoke about the devastation wrought in the eastern canyons of Orange County (Silverado, Trabuco, Santiago) and others spoke about other risks associated with building in wildland areas (including mudslides, which are a real factor now that the plant material often holding slopes together has been largely eviscerated throughout the canyon and adjacent areas.)

I've been told, as I also stated previously, that, before the fires, there was said to be a 4-1 or, at best, a 3-2 vote preference in support of the project and against the appeal, although this is hearsay!

Regardlessly, it is essential that those concerned about what this project (whenever it might get built given the growing economic crisis and disastrous state of the housing market) portends, along with 202 other approved or proposed homes on the Chino Hills side, for the future of Carbon Canyon.

If you care about the canyon, please come and lend your support or speak to the council about why this project is poor public policy, not just for the fire risk, which is now on everyone's minds, but because of the issues of traffic, open space habitat, and pollution which still form the justifiable basis for denying this project, as well as more general concerns such as infrastructure management problems, future water supply, and just overcrowding and overdevelopment of our region.