The Buzz column, Sept. 28

Sunrise’s mailer about an assisted living project on what is currently the Casta del Sol Golf Course is getting quite a bad reaction. A housing project below an earthen dam is one matter, but even more comments are being generated by concern the plan has already been approved by the city. It hasn’t. The cover letter from Sunrise invites interested parties to attend two open-house events: Tues., Oct. 2, and Thurs., Oct. 4. Both will be held from 5:00 to 8:00 p.m. at the Lake Mission Viejo Clubhouse, 22555 Olympiad Road. Is this the newest bait-and-switch scheme by a housing developer? Wait until residents find out which P.R. consultant is in back of this one.

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The Target store at Los Alisos and Jeronimo will hold its grand opening Oct. 14. When Target appeared before the city council in May 2006, its spokesman said the store was on a fast track, set to open in October 2006. Residents correctly said no way. Target has instead been on a slow track, and Steadfast’s housing project adjacent to the store is on no track. Residents with a view of the property say it’s just dirt – a parking lot for long-idle, monstrous grading equipment and Target’s construction trailers. Steadfast now has two categories of housing: non-profit and unprofitable.

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Slums delayed are slums denied. Along with Steadfast’s pile of dirt at Los Alisos and Jeronimo, another high-density housing project, on the former Kmart property on east Los Alisos, is also going nowhere. A consultant for UDR/Pacific, the property’s developer, apparently thought he had such influence with the city council that the city’s requirement for an affordable component would be dropped. When the developer and his investors found out they’d be required to include the affordable units, they walked away, saying “it didn’t pencil out.” Current score on high-density slum housing: residents 2, developers 0.

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An item in the Sept. 28 issue of Saddleback Valley News described the shopping carts to be used at the new Target store. They’ll have a feature that locks up the wheels if the cart is moved beyond the store’s parking lot. This is likely out of economic necessity rather than concern for the surrounding neighbors. With the steep grade of the access drive, the demand for downhill kamikaze racing units would have exceeded the store’s ability to keep any carts at the store.

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Unrelated to city business but interesting to some residents: the largest homeowner association in Mission Viejo mailed a message to its members regarding CC&Rs limiting tree height. A resident informed The Buzz: “Of all the things the HOA could do to help the homeowners, ours has decided to take on trees taller than 25 feet. Someone must be losing a lot of sleep over trees. If a specific tree is a problem, that would be reasonable, but they’re talking about all trees. I can’t remember any HOA board member running on a tree platform. Palm trees add considerably to the area, and they easily exceed 25 feet. They can’t be “trimmed” as the HOA message suggests for tall trees. Tree removal could take some properties back to the 1970s or 1980s with little boxes on the hillsides and the starkness of a new development. Or we could cut the tops off for the utility-pole look.”

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Buzz readers have asked how many residents are participating in Councilwoman Trish Kelley’s “senior transportation program.” When city programs are resounding failures, the numbers don’t appear anywhere. Despite endless advertising, announcements and yet another three-page spread in the most recent City Outlook newsletter, the so-called pilot program is a huge waste of taxpayer dollars. With most of the money being used for administrative costs rather than providing real benefits, the results are as expected.

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Buzz reader email: “Keep the pressure on the council to publish information about the city’s disaster preparedness program. The only thing I’ve heard was from council members who said emergency information would be posted on the new electronic sign across from city hall. In the event of an emergency, everyone can drive down to Marguerite and La Paz to read the character word of the month. What is the city’s plan for evacuating 100,000 residents? I’d like to hear it.”