Easelgate Update
Editorial staff

Community activist Lisa De Paul-Snyder received notice the city will need more time to provide the public records she requested on Aug. 8. No surprise there, as the city took nearly six weeks to find 59 pages in response to her first request for information about easels trashed on a hillside in April.

While interested parties are waiting for city hall to find its own records, other city activities have come under scrutiny. A resident on July 27 reported to blog staffers that truckloads of dirt, asphalt, sand and debris were being dumped in Lower Curtis Park. Because the city staff engaged in a stealth grading project in 2003 and spent $200,000 without the council’s approval, activists and those who live near the park have been watching Lower Curtis for several weeks.

On Aug. 22, a resident prepared two complaints, and an activist sent a copy to this blog. One complaint was filed with U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, and the other went to the California Dept. of Fish and Game. Following are specifics of the complaints.

“From July 27 to Aug. 15, the city of Mission Viejo (Mission Viejo city employees and city contractors) dumped tons of broken concrete, asphalt, sand, dirt and debris in Lower Curtis Park near the Arroyo Trabuco at the eastern edge of Mission Viejo, CA. The site is in Lower Curtis Park, near the intersection of Olympiad Road and La Paz Road. I am among residents who saw hundreds of truckloads of material, and I photographed the area to document what took place. Saddleback Valley News ran an interview with City Projects Manager, Mark Chagnon on Aug. 15. Chagnon acknowledged the city had directed contractors to haul material to the site to dump it. According to Chagnon, the dumping will continue for at least four more months. He went on to state that the materials dumped could be picked up and removed by contractors needing fill dirt or at some point in the future, the area would be graded, if the city opted to develop the site. After the story, with a photo, came out in the Saddleback Valley News, the area was immediately graded. Lower Curtis Park is zoned as recreation/open space, and it is an environmentally sensitive area. It has been designated as California Gnatcatcher Habitat and a Wildlife Corridor and Breeding Habitat with Coastal Sage Scrub. Vehicle access is limited to the city and city contractors, and a locked gate is the only point of entry for vehicles.

“It is doubtful the city has communicated with any of the appropriate agencies, contributed to any funds or requested permits to grade or otherwise disturb and destroy protected habitats (Coastal Sage Scrub and riparian). Please see photographs enclosed showing the mounds of materials hauled in as of August 6, 2008, and the area on August 17, 2008, after it was graded. This is the second time that materials have been surreptitiously hauled into this site and subsequently graded, after discovery by residents.

“A second site where the city is dumping in an environmentally sensitive area alongside Oso Creek (within two miles of Lower Curtis Park) has recently been discovered. The area is city property designated as open space adjacent to the water treatment facility off La Paz Road (one block east of Marguerite Parkway), which can be viewed from the road behind the Michaels store in the retail center on the southeast corner of La Paz and Marguerite. The area immediately east of Oso Creek is used as a secured city yard, and only city, city contractor and water department vehicles have access to the yard. The open space where the dumping is taking place abuts Oso Creek. The site is occupied Gnatcatcher Habitat, and the hillside is covered with Coastal Sage Scrub. Photography is included.

“If any other information is needed to investigate this complaint, please advise me. Additional photographs are available.”