Mile Square Park development, fox study should conclude

-- ANGELIQUE FLORES

Mile Square Park has been the center of a number of controversies this

year -- over foxes, another golf course and a place for hobbyists to fly

their airplanes.

The gates of an area where model rocket and airplane hobbyists flew their

planes for 25 years were locked in June to make way for an expansion that

will add another 109 acres to the Mile Square Golf Course. The new

36-hole course is expected to generate about $1.2 million a year for the

county.

The Save Mile Square Park Committee filed a lawsuit May 27 against the

Orange County Board of Supervisors for turning the historical landing

site into a golf course. They brought nine charges against the board,

including violations of the California Public Resources Code, the

Americans with Disabilities Act, and the California Business and

Professions Code.

The suit was later thrown out of court.

Construction on the area is underway.

Besides upsetting the hobbyists, advocates are fighting for the welfare

of the foxes that inhabit the park. The golf course expansion has forced

foxes from the park’s nature area to seek refuge elsewhere. These foxes

may either be eliminated or relocated. A study is being conducted to

determine their fate.

The city is in the process of completing the agreement to gain an extra

23 1/2 acres of land to use for sports fields. The expansion will cost

the city $8 million -- $350,000 of which will be paid with federal funds.

The city will then own a total of 55 acres of the park.

The city will redesign the park to improve traffic flow, Councilman John

Collins said.