Sunrise: It’s b-a-a-a-ck
Staff editorial

A few naive or overly optimistic residents have been saying Sunrise Assisted Living abandoned its plan to build housing on the Casta del Sol Golf Course.

If Sunrise walked away, it was merely to reload. Last week, at least two homeowner associations got word of the developer’s revised plan to build an assisted-living project on the Casta course. Brad Morton broke the news on his blog, stating Finnestera on the Green and Casta del Sol HOAs received information about the new plan. The revision relocates proposed housing from the south end to the west side of the golf course.

The city has received no formal proposal from Sunrise, but all five council members have privately talked with the developer. All council members except John Paul Ledesma have accepted campaign donations from the developer’s PR agent, Roger Faubel.

Sunrise first revealed its housing plans to the public in an “open house” meeting held Oct. 2, 2007. The drawings showed a multistory project on the south end of the course where the clubhouse now stands. Initially, Sunrise talked about rebuilding the clubhouse on the west side of the course along Marguerite Parkway. Skeptics doubted that the assisted-living developer, which clearly lacks an interest in golf, would spend any money to build a new clubhouse. Many people believe the real plan entails carving up the golf course for housing, regardless of what Sunrise and Faubel say about preserving the course.

Will Sunrise continue redrawing its plans, just as Steadfast did with its proposed housing at Jeronimo and Los Alisos? Sunrise and Steadfast seem to be using the same playbook. Steadfast also had an elaborate PR scheme to trick gullible residents into supporting more high-density housing in a built-out city. Council members, especially Trish Kelley, claimed Steadfast would pay developer fees for “other projects” around town. Steadfast paid nothing.

In February 2008, the council put a sham moratorium on rezoning, pretending to protect the golf course. The moratorium stops nothing, as the council could vote to end it at any time. Furthermore, it contains a loophole that wouldn’t stop a developer from proceeding. The moratorium, however, gives council incumbents cover from a political firestorm over the golf course issue in the Nov. 4 city election. Councilman Frank Ury is up for reelection, and he has spoken in favor of Sunrise. Gail Reavis is also up for reelection, and her position on Sunrise isn’t clear.

Most opponents of the Sunrise project herald the Mission Viejo Right To Vote Initiative as the best way to stop Sunrise from rezoning the golf course. Community activist Dale Tyler delivered the revised initiative to city hall on Thurs., July 17. He inadvertently omitted a paragraph when he first delivered the initiative to city hall several weeks ago.

The initiative process is back on track, and signature gathering will begin following another public announcement in the newspaper, as required by law. Those who have already expressed interest in gathering signatures will be contacted. Anyone else who wants to sign the petition or participate in signature gathering should click here and fill out the form at the bottom of the page.