Friends of Coyote Hills Fight For Open Space in Fullerton

The proposed development will destroy habitat for native flora and fauna and the rural quality of life valued by the area's human residents.

Friends of Coyote Hills, a Task Force of the Sierra Club, has been working tirelessly since 2000 to help prevent the development of the last parcel of undeveloped land in North Orange County. This property, located in the northwest corner of Fullerton, is owned by Chevron, who would like to develop this area with 760 homes and small retail centers off Rosecrans. The Friends have opposed the development for many reasons:

It will destroy important habitat for endangered species of flora and fauna.

It will change the rural atmosphere of the area which the residents value.

It will increase traffic and decrease air quality, affecting the quality of life of many residents.

The development means that the city of Fullerton and its neighbors will lose important recreational and education resources in our own backyard.

The developer, Pacific Coast Homes, which is a subsidiary of Chevron, would like the citizens of Fullerton to believe that Pacific Coast Homes will provide protetion of habitat as well as recreational opportunities for the citizens of Fullerton. This will not be the case, however.

The area preserved in the development will include the yards of homeowners in the development, edge around the development for fire protection and other areas that cannot be developed because of unstable or contaminated soil. Most of the proposed recreational trails are along roads.

Views of open space and nature will be marred with rooftops and fences. The serenity and silence of the canyons will be filled with sounds of suburban life. When this last piece of undeveloped property in Fulllerton is paved over, there will be no turning back. It wil be lost to us and future generations forever.

The Friends have been inspired, mentored, and encouraged to continue their efforts by many citizens in Fullerton and neighbroing cities, as parcels of land such as this have been saved from developments in Orange County. These efforts often take a very long time, and support from the entire community is needed to succeed. The City Council ultimately has the power to decide if this devleopment is right for Fullerton, and many of the Council members have campaigned on the platform of trying to save Coyote Hills as a park and to keep it open for everyone to enjoy. The effort to stop the development and then purchase the property from Chevron will take lengthy and skilled negotiations and many sources of public and private money will be needed to save the entire 510 acres.

The decision regarding rezoning the property (The property is still zoned for oil and gas.) and to approve or disapprove the development will come in front of the Planning Commission and then the City Council this year, possibly as early as this spring.

In the meantime, Friends of Coyote Hills will continue to try and secure funding from various sources and lobby our City leaders to make good on campaign rhetoric to try and save Coyote Hills from development.

The Friends of Coyote Hills are open to new ideas and count on the help of volunteers from all walks of life. We host naturalist-led hikes along the perimeter of the property every second Saturady of the month, and we are involved in many community activities to educate and endlist the support of the community. So far, we have more than 6,000 signatures from residents of Fullerton and from citizens of surrounding areas that support saving this treasure in our backyard.