New Building Boom Is a Mixed Blessing : Optimism Needs to Be Tempered by Concern About Environment, Quality of Life

Twenty-one thousand new residences to be built around Orange County were approved in the weeks up to and including Election Day. And last week, the Irvine City Council cleared the way for an additional 2,880 new units. This coincidental string of green lights paves the way for a new suburban building boom after years of review, compromise, referendum and politics.

At the same time, Newport Coast Road opened Friday, offering commuters a way to bypass Corona del Mar and reach John Wayne Airport and other points north while linking the coastal communities with the heart of Orange County in a series of spectacular views.

With a recession gripping much of the nation and region, builders and developers were hailing the approvals as a way to relieve congestion and make it possible for commuters traveling great distances to live and work in Orange County. Some of that optimism is warranted. The affordable-housing crisis is a cause of concern, and putting people closer to jobs, so that they spend less time on freeways, is desirable--provided, of course, that the housing comes in at prices that people in need of new houses can afford, or even that financing can be obtained to go forward with construction.

But there are enough disturbing signs to sound a note of caution at the celebration party. The new toll roads that are supposed to serve much of the new development planned for South County, and to ease the traffic congestion, battle nagging environmental concerns, in part through inattentive planning.

Earlier this month, opponents of the proposed Foothill tollway filed suit to block the road, claiming it would spur growth on broad stretches of undeveloped land, harming animals and fouling air.

Even proponents of all the new housing concede that much of the original land designed to accommodate growth in Orange County, including the orange groves, has disappeared. New housing is increasingly being proposed for land closer to canyons and wetlands or on otherwise environmentally sensitive land.

As Orange County welcomes new housing, it also reckons somewhat with the failures of good planning in the past. As this new housing gets built, there are growing concerns about quality of life. In future years, as future developments are proposed, the county needs a better overview of planning. That’s especially so if people feel crowded out, priced out or stressed out.