TOLL ROAD AGENCY FILES CROSS COMPLAINT
1996 agreement required 250 acres for environmental mitigation
IRVINE, Calif. (February 1, 2007) – Today the Foothill/Eastern Transportation Corridor Agency filed a cross complaint against the Rancho Mission Viejo Company to settle a two-year dispute regarding a 1996 agreement. The agreement requires that Rancho Mission Viejo provide the TCA with a conservation easement for 240 acres in Upper Chiquita Canyon, along with an additional 250 acres suitable for the Foothill-South mitigation program, in exchange for the TCA’s payment of $5 million.
“While it is unfortunate that litigation is necessary, the filing of this suit is a step forward in moving this issue to a resolution,” said Jim Thor, chairman of the Foothill/Eastern Transportation Corridor Agency.
In December 2006, Rancho Mission Viejo advised the TCA that it was refusing to provide the additional 250 acres as required by the agreement and filed a lawsuit. The filing of today’s cross complaint is a step forward in moving this issue to a resolution. The next step will be for the parties to select a referee to hear the dispute and to conduct discovery.
“The Ranch is supportive of the 241 extension but by violating this agreement is delaying the TCA’s ability to complete environmental mitigation plans,” said Mission Viejo City Councilman Lance MacLean, a director of the Foothill/Eastern Transportation Corridor Agency. “If Foothill-South is not built, it will be the cities of Mission Viejo and San Juan Capistrano who bear the brunt of the traffic created by the Ranch development.”
The extension of the 241 Toll Road is needed whether or not Rancho Mission Viejo is developed. And with or without construction of Foothill-South, the Ranch will build 14,000 new homes and more than five million square feet of business, neighborhood and urban development.
BACKGROUND
In 1996, Rancho Mission Viejo and the Foothill/Eastern Transportation Corridor Agency entered into an agreement for the purchase of a conservation easement for the Upper Chiquita Conservation Area located near Oso Parkway and the 241 Toll Road. The $5 million agreement included a requirement that Rancho Mission Viejo provide to the TCA an additional 250 acres of property on the Ranch land that would be suitable for the Foothill-South mitigation program.
TCA has performed all of its obligations under the agreement, including $4 million paid in two installments in 1996 and 1999 and tender of the final $1 million in December 2006. Over the last two years, the TCA has been attempting to convince Rancho Mission Viejo to abide by its contractual obligation and provide the 250 acres, which are needed by the TCA in order to comply with regulatory requirements.
Rancho Mission Viejo refused to cooperate with TCA and negotiate in good faith to identify 250 acres pursuant to the agreement. In December 2006, Rancho Mission Viejo advised the TCA that it was refusing to provide the 250 acres as required by the agreement. This action breached the 1996 agreement. Also, another breach occurred when Rancho Mission Viejo failed and refused to provide for the Foothill-South segment when applying for approval of the Natural Community Conservation Plan for the Southern Orange County Subregion. The TCA believes Rancho Mission Viejo acted in bad faith and deliberately sought to frustrate TCA’s reasonable expectations and deprive the TCA of the benefits it was entitled to under the agreement.
The TCA is actively exploring other mitigation alternatives in order to prevent delays in the permitting process. However, the identification and utilization of alternative mitigation areas would result in unanticipated costs to the Agency for acquisition and/or restoration costs.
ABOUT FOOTHILL-SOUTH
Foothill-South is the final segment of Orange County’s planned 67-mile toll road system. The project has been the subject of regional planning efforts for decades, and has been on the County’s Master Plan of Arterial Highways since 1981. Since 1996, TCA has worked with the Federal Highway Administration (FHWA), U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service (USFWS), U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (ACOE) and Caltrans as part of a comprehensive federal environmental review process of project alternatives to relieve traffic in South Orange County. This collaborative process includes the Marine Corps-Camp Pendleton as a cooperating agency. More information: www.foothill-south.com.
ABOUT TCA
The Toll Roads are operated by the Foothill/Eastern and San Joaquin Hills Transportation Corridor Agencies (TCA), joint powers authorities formed in 1986 to plan, finance, construct, and operate Orange County's 67-mile public toll road system. Fifty-one miles of the system are complete, including the San Joaquin Hills (73) Toll Road from Newport Beach to San Juan Capistrano; and the Foothill (241) and Eastern (241, 261, and 133) Toll Roads from the 91 Freeway to south Orange County.
The Foothill/Eastern Transportation Corridor Agency (F/ETCA) manages the 241, 261, and 133 Toll Roads. F/ETCA Member Agencies consist of the cities of Anaheim, Dana Point, Irvine, Lake Forest, Mission Viejo, Orange, Rancho Santa Margarita, San Clemente, San Juan Capistrano, Santa Ana, Tustin, Yorba Linda, County of Orange 3rd, 4th and 5th Districts. Officials each member agency are appointed to serve on the agency's Board of Directors. The Board makes major decisions about construction, administration, and finances affecting The Toll Roads. More information: www.thetollroads.com.
