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White-tailed kites (Elanus leucurus) rely on the project site for food.  Drastic decrease in population in Orange County. Photo: Tonya Fannon, 2023

Canyon Fire 2 burned 9217 acres, including Irvine Regional Park, Orange Heights project site & Peters Cyn Regional Park in 2017. 

On April 3, 2024, at 1:22AM, we captured our 1st trail cam footage of M317, a young male mountain lion who regularly moves through the 400 acres between Irvine Park & Peters Cyn.

Even though The Irvine Company set aside other land, this crucial wildlife corridor, located between two of our most popular parks in Orange County, is not an appropriate location for a large-scale development of expensive single-family homes because:

• It is located in a Very High Fire Hazard Severity Zone, which burned during the Canyon Fire 2 in 2017.

• Santiago Canyon Rd, Chapman Ave and Jamboree Rd are already impacted by severe traffic congestion and traffic related deaths.  It contradicts California's SB 743 from 2013, which now requires agencies to look at Vehicle Miles Traveled (VMT) instead of Level of Service (LOS).

• It contradicts the City of Orange’s own efforts to prevent urban sprawl, preserve valuable open space and focus on sustainable infill and redevelopment near transit hubs, jobs and services. 

On Nov. 8, 2005, despite widespread opposition, the Orange City Council (Mark Murphy, Carolyn Cavecche, Tita Smith, Jon Dumitru & Steve Ambriz) betrayed our community and voted 5-0 to approve The Irvine Company’s Environmental Impact Report (EIR) for the controversial 4100-home proposed development project in the rural foothills of Orange known as "Santiago Hills Phase II.”

Surprisingly, EIR's do not expire, which is a major flaw in CEQA.  A new Environmental Impact Report (EIR) needs to be drafted and circulated to take into the consideration all of the new housing developments, recent wildfires, wildlife habitat loss, increased pollution, traffic congestion and other issues that have plagued Orange County over the past 19 years.  NO Canyon Hills is working to protect the Verdugo Hills from a similar proposed development project that was approved by LA City Council 19 years ago.

The Irvine Company proposes to destroy almost 400 acres (size of Banning Ranch!) of wildlife habitat by developing 1180 new homes between Irvine Regional Park, Peters Canyon Regional Park, Jamboree and the 241 toll road.  Formerly known as "Santiago Hills Phase II," they now call it "Orange Heights."

Many-stemmed dudleya (Dudleya multicaulis), CA Rare Plant Rank 1B.2, is found on the project site.

Sweeping vista of the threatened 400 acres between Irvine Park & Peters Cyn.

• It supports mountain lion, Crotch's bumble bee, least Bell’s vireo, coastal California gnatcatcher, white-tailed kite and other special status wildlife and plant species.  The mountain lion is under review to be listed as Threatened under the California Endangered Species Act.

• It features multiple prehistoric Native American archaeological sites, including CA-ORA-556, a village site which qualifies for the California Historic Register and is considered a Culturally Sensitive Area by the Gabrieleno Tongva Band of Mission Indians.