Controversy erupts over construction of new neighborhood in Orange Heights wildlife habitat
Photo Courtesy of Joel Robinson
Local communities are concerned that Irvine Company's Orange Heights Project, approved in 2005 by the Orange City Council to construct residential areas in east Orange, could significantly harm wildlife ecosystems and disrupt Native American archeological sites.
Between the areas of Irvine Regional Park, Peters Canyon Regional Park, Jamboree and the 241 toll road, the Irvine Company plans to transform 400 acres of open land into a site with 1,180 new single-family homes. However, the No Orange Heights Impact Campaign, led by Joel Robinson, could mitigate construction in his lawsuit against the California Department of Fish and Wildlife (CDFW).
Robinson, a naturalist educator, storyteller, barefooter, ambassador for non-human organisms and passionate advocate for the wildlife habitats located in Orange Heights and beyond, has dedicated his life to being the voice for creatures who cannot speak for themselves.
“It's hard for a lot of our modern Western society to actually consider or have empathy for these other beings, even though we're living right next to them,” Robinson said. “They're in our house, they're outside our house, they're down the street, they're in a local park, they're everywhere.”
Robinson recalls getting involved in land preservation efforts between 2002 to 2006 as a naturalist, advocating against a development originally called Santiago Hills. At the time, while working for the Nature Conservancy, he assisted with their public access program and research by guiding nature walks on lands that the Irvine Company set aside.
However, when the Irvine Company proposed a development plan next to the area where Robinson was leading educational tours, he began to speak out. He collected petition signatures, wrote letters to key figures at the Irvine Company, including CEO Donald Bren, and spoke out at Orange City Council meetings that decided whether to approve the environmental impact report.
“I feel like we did all the right things, and yet they, the city council, completely ignored the public and just voted unanimously for the project,” Robinson said.
However, with the 2008 recession, construction stalled because these housing projects were not financially feasible to move forward with. Irvine Company eventually scaled back the project, donating 90% of the 7,000 acres for preservation and community-use.
According to Robinson, as the construction date continued to delay, the Irvine Company’s efforts for building the New Orange Heights seemed unlikely. Then in late 2023, Joel noticed survey rope on the hillsides, which seemed to be a startling indication that the Irvine Company was preparing for the project.
The CDFW, whose responsibility is to conserve and protect plant and animal species at risk of extinction, had recommended that the Irvine Company get an incidental take permit (ITP) for the Crotch’s Bumble Bee, a ground nesting native bee that is on a severe decline in California and is on the property, before starting development. An ITP requires permittees to implement measures to minimize, avoid or mitigate the environmental impacts of the project. As a discretionary action, the No Orange Heights legal team viewed this as an opportunity to challenge the development project.
No Orange Heights regularly sent comment letters and voicemails to the CDFW, receiving no answer. They requested for public record of the ITP application for the Crotch’s Bumble Bee and sent it to a bee researcher who determined that the ITP could not be approved for the Crotch’s Bumble Bee, because the Irvine Company could not properly mitigate the destruction that the project would cause.
“So then months later, in December, you know, after we've sent all our comments, tried to communicate with CDFW, nothing from their end,” said Joel, “All of a sudden, right before Christmas, there's dozers on the hillside. And this is, like, my nightmare.”
Photo Courtesy of Joel Robinson
CDFW approved the Irvine Company’s incidental take permit on Dec 12, 2024.
No Orange Heights is now filing a lawsuit against the CDFW, alleging that they violated the Endangered Species Act and the California Environmental Quality Act in their handling of the Irvine Company's ITP application for the Crotch’s Bumble Bee. Specifically, the lawsuit claims CDFW approved the ITP without requiring a new environmental review that addresses the current conditions and impacts of the proposed development, such as wildfire risk, traffic congestion, Native American archeological destruction and special-species endangerment.
A preliminary injunction hearing is scheduled for May, in which a judge will decide whether the Irvine Company must halt work on the project while the lawsuit proceeds. Until then, the Irvine Company has agreed not to do work on The Orange Heights development.