By Alison Munson
Daily Titan Staff Writer
Published: February 16, 2010

Honking horns showed appreciation for the efforts of enthusiastic protesters that came out Tuesday evening toting signs with messages like “Save Coyote Hills” and “Traffic engineering pull your head out of your manhole.”

The Friends of Coyote Hills (FCH), an organization of concerned local citizens, marched down Harbor Boulevard to protest the development of North Orange County’s remaining lots of open space. The march ended at Fullerton City Hall.

In 2001, the Fullerton City Council voted 5-0 in approval of the first phases of housing development on the 500 acres that constitute Coyote Hills. FCH has been working to preserve the open space ever since.

“We’ve been fighting to save the hills for about 9 years,” said Kent Morris, a member of FCH and anthropology professor at Long Beach City College. “We want to preserve the hills 100 percent.”

Coyote Hills is an abandoned oil field owned by Chevron. Pacific Coast Homes is planning on building 760 new houses, leaving approximately half the property for public use.

“What we’re concerned about is if those hills are developed, there will be some green belts in there, but basically the whole ecosystem will be destroyed,” Morris explained. “An ecosystem can’t survive when it’s interrupted by so many houses. Chevron Oil is trying to convince people otherwise, but from a biological point of view, it’s impossible for an ecosystem to survive.”

The land is home to more than 130 species of wildlife including the Gnatcatcher, a small bird listed on the Federal threatened and endangered species list, maintained by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service.

“The land is part of the pacific flyway and many migratory birds use it to stop off and rest on their journey North,” Morris explained.

The impact that an additional 760 homes will produce on the surrounding community is also a concern, said Morris. With the increase in population, FCH expects an increase in traffic congestion, air pollution and on water resources.

“Southern California has been in a drought for about four years now and it’s expected to get worse,” Morris warned.

Volunteers at the march had other concerns, including the geological impact that the San Andreas Fault would have if development plans are carried out.

“The developers haven’t used any findings from the California Shake Out held a few months ago,” said Jim Flournoy a protester and volunteer for the Sierra Club, an organization that supports FCH. “We don’t want them to build a hazardous development.”

The City of Fullerton conducted an analysis on the amount of traffic that would be generated in comparison to the capacity of the roadways, said Joan Wolff, Planning Consultant to the City of Fullerton.

“The roadways and intersections are adequate enough to handle to the traffic added,” Wolff said. “There may be modifications to the traffic signals, but in general the roadways are adequate enough that no extraordinary measures need to be taken.”

North Orange County has relatively little open space, so any amount that can be saved should be, Morris said. People will have access to an educational and leisure resource if Coyote Hills is preserved.

“We are currently looking for ways to purchase the property,” Morris said. “If we preserve it, we’ll have trails built and it’ll be open to everybody. If Chevron goes ahead and develops, there’ll be pathways like they have in common interest developments, but the integrity of the ecosystem will cease to exist.”

The City of Fullerton has held three environmental impact reports. The final report was released in late January. The public will have until Feb. 26 to comment on it. Chevron will then go before the City of Fullerton Planning Commission to hear their decision on whether or not development will be allowed.