Foothills Sentry April 2021
Page 5 Foothills Sentry April 2021 Circulation … 41,750 Published on the last Tuesday of each month and distributed to residences, businesses, libraries and civic centers. 714-532-4406 Fax: 714-532-6755 foothillssentry.com 1107 E. Chapman Ave., #207 Orange, CA 92866 © Foothills Sentry 2020 Publisher/Editor Anita Bennyhoff 1969-2013 Editor Tina Richards editor@foothillssentry.com Sports Editor Cliff Robbins sportseditor@att.net Graphic Designer Aimee Armstrong graphics@foothillssentry.com Advertising Sales Andie Mills advertising@foothillssentry.com 714-926-9299 Office Manager Kathy Eidson officemanager@foothillssentry. com Bless the beasts and children Fake News Lately, almost anything you write about the canyons could be true. Hail, rain, and snow one day, a brush fire the next. In Modjeska, a two-person Edison crew counted utility poles and synced the grid each morning for a week, with one of the techs wearing not only his bright safety vest and carrying an iPad and tripod but sporting a red, white, and blue “Q” cap. Edison pub- lic relations might want to have a chat with a dude who works for an agency already struggling with credibility. Agrestic arrives Weirdly, on the same early January day that the county and SCE were repairing infrastruc- ture back on Santiago Canyon Road near Silverado, Saddle Crest (Rutter Development) be- gan spraying a lovely seasonal mix of bright neon-green grass seed and fertilizer adjacent the road six miles from wildfire dam- age. The “environmentally sound plan to develop 65 homes [read: McMansions for wealthy people] in charming Trabuco Canyon” on 114 acres has been hard to ignore, despite canyon residents’ efforts. This month, the left turn lane into the real life version of Agrestic, the fictional tract in the TV show “Weeds,” arrived. Not much to turn into yet but, alas, no turn- ing back. The already-congested south end of the canyon freeway between Ridgeline and Santiago Canyon Estates will potentially become more dangerous, with safety mitigation gestures likely after a few predictable collisions. A traffic signal, further despoiling our night sky, seems inevitable. More weeds Weed abatement notices haven’t yet made it to the big screen but arrived from the coun- ty and make for excellent view- ing. Does anybody show up for public hearings to object to weed removal? OC Planning advises you call before using a tractor, bulldozer or backhoe. Maybe Rutter has a spare. When it rains, it burns News that California’s rainy season now officially starts a month later than a half-century ago is hardly news to Silverado flood and mudslide victims. But we’re glad the National Weather Service keeps track, and note that a later wet season means a lon- ger Santa Ana winds and wildfire season. Our worst fires occur in fall, so not too early to start your wildlands workout, an exercise and defensible space fitness regi- men using chainsaws, rakes, trim- mers, weed whackers, machetes. None of those require notifying the county. Gardening tip: Use old sandbags to fill starter pots for fire-resistance plants. Mulch weeds but make sure your com- post pile doesn’t combust. This community can’t stand more irony! Radio net Canyon Watch is changing the frequency of canyon repeaters. Keith, Bic and Cle are reprogram- ming both handheld GMRS radi- os and base stations. Weekly Ra- dio Net check-ins have prepped the growing network membership for our next emergency, with new block captains recruited. My own go-bag is permanently stowed in my truck, along with must-have accoutrements of temporary refu- gee prep: loud battery-powered megaphone to alert neighbors, a gallon of water, flashlight, over- night bag, cell phone charger. Open house From Silverado Modjeska Recreation and Parks District President Isabel Kerins, an invitation: Silverado Children’s Center, a nature preschool, begins registration for the 2021- 22 school year on April 26. A SMRPD program, the center offers an emergent curriculum incorporating appreciation of nature’s handiwork, care for living creatures, and a solid respect for the environment. Students age 2 - 6 enjoy an incredible outdoor/indoor classroom atmosphere, farm animals on site, creative play spaces and hiking adventures. Register for socially distanced Open House on April 24: silveradochildrenscenter.com . The SMRPD board last month donated proceeds from the sale of leftover donated fire relief items to the Inter Canyon League. That’s $900 to ICL. Nearly the same was raised at a rattlesnake avoid- ance event for dogs in Modjeska. Fifty-nine hounds will now pre- sumably make smarter decisions around sidewinders. Hello kitty Fido might be good to have around, if on a leash, while walk- ing his master on local trails or even Modjeska roads, especially at dawn or dusk. Our recently too-frequently sighted moun- tain lion has dined on goats and llamas, and been spotted on the Modjeska House grounds as well as on trails by hikers and run- ners. Early-morning dog walkers now carry bear spray and practice looking tall and swearing, loudly. While the county monitors and takes paw prints, it cannot relo- cate this animal. Korinna Domin- go of the Cougar Conservancy spoke recently to ICL members and will offer a 30-minute pre- sentation at the regular Tuesday, April 6 monthly meeting about cohabitating with a cougar. Local girl makes good Modjeska resident Lisa Alva- rez, co-editor of a previous an- thology of OC literary fiction and nonfiction, has compiled a 50- year celebration of poetry from participants of the legendary Community of Writers summer workshops in California’s High Sierra. Available from publisher Hey- day, copies of the landmark an- thology "Why to These Rocks" will no doubt soon be on the shelves of the Library of the Can- yons. Waste stockpiler wins cease and desist appeal; operation remains in limbo By Tina Richards Milan Capital’s appeal of the cease and desist order issued by the Local Enforcement Agency (LEA) to halt the stockpiling of construction waste on its East Orange property was upheld by CalRecycle, Feb. 26. The state’s decision to grant the appeal was based on procedural errors made by LEA in issuing the cease and desist order and not on the agency’s overall enforcement of activity on the site. Milan and contractor Chandler LLC had been dumping construction debris on the property adjacent to Santiago Canyon Road without permits or oversight for years. Complaints from neighbors led LEA, the local arm of CalRecycle, to investigate. Not so fast The agency informed Milan/ Chandler that a permit was needed. One of the requirements for the permit was that the site be registered with either the City of Orange’s Non-Disposal Facility Element (NDFE) or the Countywide Siting Element (CSE). Milan/Chandler claimed that the site was going to be listed with the city and LEA granted the permit in June. Shortly thereafter, LEA realized that the site had to be listed with the county, not the city, and asked that the permit be relinquished. That request was ignored, and LEA responded with an order to cease and desist the dumping operation. The permit was eventually returned, but the cease and desist order was upheld in a hearing between LEA and the property owner last fall. Milan appealed that decision to CalRecycle, which found that LEA had erred in its methodology and that the cease and desist order was not supported by waste management law. Missed step in the process The agency could not legally revoke the dumping permit, Cal- Recycle found, or issue a cease and desist order without first holding a hearing. The hearing in October was held after the cease and desist order had been issued; the subject of that proceeding was whether or not Milan/Chandler needed a permit at all. The hear- ing officer found that they did. Permits can be voided if the operator “violates the inherent terms;” in this case, CalRecycle noted, the operator did not violate the permit. Instead, LEA had retroactively determined that the permit application was incomplete because the site was not listed on the county siting element. But LEA had already accepted Milan’s application, with the siting element box checked, and issued the permit. Second thoughts LEA described the operator’s checked box as “material misrep- resentation,” which, it believed, nullified the permit. But the au- thorizing Public Resources Code states that the operator’s applica- tion be deemed “satisfied when the requisite statement is includ- ed, even if that statement ulti- mately proves to be incorrect.” Although Milan prevailed in its appeal to CalRecycle, it cannot resume dumping waste material on the site. It had voluntarily relinquished its permit, claiming it didn’t need one because it was dumping only clean inert debris to be used as fill. During its investigation of the dumpsite, however, LEA found contaminated materials mixed in with clean fill, and told the operator that the tainted debris must be removed before more waste is piled on top of it. And LEA continues to have jurisdiction over the site. “LEA has indicated that it will issue additional enforcement orders against appellants’ operations at the site,” CalRecycle wrote in its decision. “While this cease and desist order is overturned, nothing in this decision and order curtails LEA’s authority to issue further enforcement orders pertaining to the site and consistent with waste management law.” fered to local women who have achieved at least a junior status in college. Applications are current- ly available for the 2021-2022 ed- ucational year. For specific info, call Nancy at (714) 637-5631. Chapter S P.E.O. scholarship awarded Villa Park High graduate Em- ily Condon, a senior at MIT, was awarded a scholarship from the California Chapter S P.E.O, a philanthropic educational orga- nization. Condon will pursue a Masters of Engineering at MIT. She is also the MIT Director for Camp Kesem, a national or- ganization serving children af- fected by a parent’s cancer. The MIT chapter funds and operates a week long sleep-away summer camp on campus. Dorothy Halleck Chapter S scholarship consideration is of- Emily Condon received a scholarship from her hometown P.E.O.
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