News: Fighting for 400 acres of Orange County's coast | company, welsh, people, activists, group - OCRegister.com

http://www.ocregister.com/articles/company-welsh-people-2112896-activists-group: "Fighting for 400 acres of Orange County's coast"

In a rented room at the Costa Mesa Community Center, Terry Welsh is rallying the troops.
Almost 1,500 people, he brags, have joined his group's fight to rescue a big chunk of coastal land slated for homes and shops.
Trouble is, this is the group's big kick-off fundraiser, and only 50 or so people have turned out. "Obviously," Welsh tells the crowd with a smile and a glance at empty seats, "they don't all show up to our meetings."
But that's all right. Welsh's Sierra Club-affiliated task force – formed almost a decade ago – is ready to get serious because, well, a developer is getting serious.
Later this month, a company is expected to submit plans for 1,375 homes, shops and an inn on a portion of Banning Ranch, one of the largest coastal areas in Orange County not covered with homes or explicitly spared from development.
Seeking to win over residents, the company has held two dozen townhalls and blanketed the city in fliers, arguing that housing and nature are compatible.
"We've been very candid about our plans," said Mike Mohler of Newport Banning Ranch LLC, a joint venture of three landowners.
Welsh's group, admittedly, has some catching up to do. That's the point of this community center fundraiser, a frugal affair where guests munch brownie bites and pay $2 for "Save Banning Ranch" bumper stickers.
Seemingly outgunned, Welsh urges optimism. "Rest comfortably that it's been done before," he says, pointing to grass-roots groups that largely blocked housing at Bolsa Chica.
The comparison, though, is a tad faulty. Unlike Bolsa Chica, which residents could always hike to or drive past on Pacific Coast Highway, Banning Ranch is private property encased by fencing and rugged hills. How do you generate excitement about something people can't see?
"This place is kind of out-of-sight for most people," Welsh concedes.
So, as activists fight back, the first step is letting people know Banning Ranch exists. The second step is convincing people it's worth keeping barren – something the company made a bit more difficult recently by mailing 35,000 fliers replete with images of rusty wells and corroded pipelines to hammer home the area's oil-drilling past and present.
Activists mock that portrayal, calling it a curious approach for a company that wants to sell homes on the land. "It's pretty interesting that they show people pictures of degraded land and say, 'You want to live here.'" said group member Margaret Royall.
Jokes aside, activists think they have the facts on their side. For one, there's the project's density – all those homes, shops and hotel rooms on a small part of the property.
Activists say the developer is being clever, perhaps proposing a huge project so it seems generous when things are scaled back. "They'll portray themselves as making a great sacrifice," Welsh said.
It's even possible, activists say, that the company is merely seeking big-time entitlements to boost the land's value before selling the property for preservation.
Mohler denies both suggestions, saying his company has "already made the sacrifices" by preserving more open space than required by Newport Beach, which plans to annex the site eventually.
While willing to sell, company executives say they doubt enough money can be obtained.
The Orange County Assessor values the land at about $41.5 million, but that doesn't account for oil cleanup costs or development potential. Appraisals are under way, and a previous estimate suggested a $225 million price tag, which activists label as vastly inflated.
Sharon Wood, assistant city manager in Newport, doubts the project can advance unless it shrinks. That's not because the city necessarily sees anything wrong with the project, she said, but because of California Coastal Commission prerogatives. "I don't think they will get it through the Coastal Commission with what they've proposed," she said.
Assume, though, the company is serious about the size of its development. Such a project would add 14,000 daily auto trips to local streets, a city estimate says.
Mohler said road improvements would absorb those cars, but activists have vowed to highlight congestion on nearby stretches of Pacific Coast Highway, Newport Boulevard and the 55 freeway.
Who's right in all this? That question awaits numerous studies and public hearings. The developer says it won't break ground for at least five years, and Wood says even that's probably "too optimistic."
In other words, Welsh's group has time. Time to build more support, and time to sell a whole lot more bumper stickers.