Mission Viejo Co. Will Face Uphill Battle Over Proposal : Development: Builder no longer holds sway in the community it constructed. Environmental concerns raised over its latest plans.

MISSION VIEJO —  A mammoth, 850-unit apartment and condominium complex proposed by the Mission Viejo Co. may test the developer’s nearly unblemished record for getting projects approved in this planned community.

In the past, the Mission Viejo Co. has held all the cards--courtesy of a development agreement signed with the county just months before a cityhood election in 1987. The agreement meant that the developer had all the necessary approvals to proceed with projects listed in the pact.

But with the signing of a new development deal with Mission Viejo in 1991--one that city officials say doesn’t include the proposed high-density project on El Toro Road--the city may finally have the upper hand.

“When we signed a new development agreement with the Mission Viejo Co., it changed everything,” Councilman Robert D. Breton said. “They no longer have us over a barrel. It feels good to have the tables turned.”

Many residents and council members are appalled at the prospect of adding up to 2,500 people along an environmentally sensitive stretch of El Toro Road near the county’s canyon communities.

Also opposing the development is the county Airport Land Use Commission, which has recommended against the project because it lies under the flight path of military jets heading to the El Toro Marine Corps Air Station.

Resident Stu Halbert called the project “a bad deal. The development agreement is supposed to limit the amount of people in the city. I don’t think the city is going to like the environment this is going to create.”

Environmentalists are unhappy because the site is near a wildlife corridor.

“I think it’s terrible. There are definitely gnatcatchers up there,” said resident Kay Stockwell, referring to the controversial songbird that is listed as a threatened species. If a residential complex is built there, she said, “people will now be walking around out near the ridgelines where they nest.”

The complex would be built on 50 acres next to El Toro Road, about a mile north of Santa Margarita Parkway. The developer will ask for a zoning change and an amendment to the city General Plan at a Planning Commission meeting Monday, and before the City Council on Oct. 24.

Mission Viejo Co. spokeswoman Wendy Wetzel Harder said the extra people should not be a concern because Mission Viejo was originally envisioned for a population of 90,000. The city now is home to 82,000.

The company has done tests that show noise levels from passing jets are no higher there than in other areas of Mission Viejo, she said.

As for environmental concerns, traffic studies done by the company have shown that a business park previously approved by the city for the site would create more traffic than the proposed residential development, she said.

Despite the widespread opposition, the project might be approved--for a price.

In 1990, the last major development approved in Mission Viejo--a tract of 700 single-family homes--came with a commitment from the Mission Viejo Co. to donate to the city 60 acres of open space and build youth ball fields worth about $12 million.

In 1994, the city has one overwhelming need. A majority of residents want a new library built, but don’t want the city to pay for it entirely out of reserve funds.

“The first issue is whether this development is negotiable at all,” Breton said. “But if the price is right . . . funding construction of the library would certainly be attractive.”

Nothing has been offered by the Mission Viejo Co. The company’s spokeswoman said the company is confident that the project “is going to go on its own merits.