OUTCOME:

Dear Hillside Supporter,
 
Last Tuesday morning the Orange County Board of Supervisors heard the Hills For Everyone appeal of the Conditional Use Permit (CUP) for the truck storage site located on Aera Energy land in Brea Canyon, called the Menchego site. It is located right where wildlife emerge after going under the 57 Freeway bridge. 
 
Ultimately, we lost on a 3-2 vote. Supervisors Katrina Foley and Vicente Sarmiento came to our defense and tried to get the other three members of the Board to agree to some reforms on the project. They were both quite dogged. We appreciated their understanding of the issues.
 
In our legal letters and testimony, we offered Conditions of Approval which would have made the project safer for wildlife and decreased environmental impacts. In the end, Supervisor Chaffee, in whose district this project lies, wouldn’t accept any changes to his motion. He, along with Supervisors Do and Wagner, all voted to deny the appeal.  
 
While we lost the appeal, one positive outcome was that three of the Supervisors (Chaffee, Foley, and Sarmiento) all spoke publicly and repeatedly of their desire to see the Aera Energy land saved. That is a first.

Currently, the Menchego site and surrounding Aera Energy lands are listed as an “opportunity site” by the County of Orange for its Housing Element. The County has allocated 1,857 houses there. (NOTE: This is not a project by the landowner, this is an allocation on paper.) Chaffee, apparently, did not know this.
 
Many thanks to Bev Perry, Glenn Parker, Duane Thompson, and Margee Hills who spoke at the hearing and Melanie Schlotterbeck for her technical support.
 
Thank you,

Claire Schlotterbeck
Executive Director