NO ORANGE HEIGHTS CAMPAIGN UPDATES:
WE HIRED AN ATTORNEY: Thanks to your generous support, we hired Dean Wallraff, an attorney with Advocates for the Environment, for 20 hours ($4000) of analysis of the public records to determine if we have a case.
ENDANGERED LEAST BELL'S VIREO ON THE LAND: We are currently observing breeding pairs of endangered least Bell's vireos and threatened coastal California gnatcatchers at multiple locations of the proposed development site. We submitted observations to the CNDDB and iNaturalist.org. We have multiple volunteers conducting field surveys periodically looking for any special status species and monitoring the ones we know to occur. WATCH YOUTUBE VIDS of least bell's vireo and coastal California gnatcatcher.
CONSTRUCTION TIMELINE: According to a USFWS representative, work is planned to get started after the breeding season this fall. We need you to help us find special status species on the proposed development site and submit your observations to iNaturalist.org and CNDDB. If the USFWS determines that the land is critical habitat for certain species, that it may prevent grading. SEE LIST OF SPECIAL STATUS SPECIES. Grading permits were issued on April 30, 2024. Permits become void, if no grading activities take place within 6 months of their issue date.
MOUNTAIN LION LETTER TO THE CITY: Channel Law Group sent a letter on our behalf to the city about the mountain lion (M317) occurring on the property. No response from the city.
PUBLIC RECORDS REQUESTS: We made public records requests, so anyone can go through the environmental review, permits, email correspondence related to the project. Here's the dropbox link. Please help us analyze the outdated documents to show that circumstances have changed since 2005 and this project will have significant negative impacts that cannot be mitigated.
CITY UNWILLING TO AGENDIZE REQUEST FOR EIR: The City of Orange has not responded to our request to agendize the EIR request for an upcoming city council meeting. The city appears to be unwilling to request a subsequent or supplemental EIR because, according to Mayor Dan Slater, they don't want to get sued by The Irvine Company.
NEXT STEPS:
UNITE AGAINST DONALD BREN & THE IRVINE COMPANY: Since The Irvine Company's CEO Donald Bren makes all the final decisions for their development projects, our plan is to inundate him with thousands of messages to preserve the 400 acres and add it to Irvine Park and Peters Canyon. Stay tuned for messaging templates.
SHORT DOCUMENTARY FILM: We're working on a short documentary to inspire more support for our campaign. Please send us any 4K footage of the wildlife, plants and landscapes featured on the 400 acres between Irvine Park and Peters Canyon.
Barefoot Joel
No Orange Heights
714-798-4392
jrobinson@naturalist-for-you.org