The Sierra Club sued the city of Orange for approving a 4,000-home Irvine Co.development east of the city that the club says will cause traffic and environmental problems.
In a lawsuit filed in Orange County Superior Court late Wednesday, the conservation organization accused the city of failing to review the project adequately and demanded new studies of its effects.
The Irvine Co. won approval last month from Orange’s City Council to build the homes in a three-stage development set for completion in 2013.
Dozens of residents spoke against the project, citing concerns about more traffic, runoff and pollution.
“The bottom line is, in almost every case the EIR (environmental impact report) understated the extent of the problem or failed to provide any real mitigation for it,” said Eric Noble, a member of the Sierra Club-backed Orange Hills Task Force.
The complex, which will be built on one of the last large tracts set for development in Orange’s sphere of influence, includes plans for a 20-acre sports park, trails and a 100-room inn and possible golf course by Irvine Lake.
City Attorney David DeBerry said the city fully complied with the law but had expected a suit because of opposition by some people to the easternmost phase of the plan near Irvine Lake.
“We believe that the city processed an exhaustive and extensive EIR,” he said.
Orange would later annex the areas developed by the Irvine Co., which are now under the county’s jurisdiction.
The Irvine Co. has 2,700 people on an interest list for the homes and will move ahead with plans to build, company spokesman John Christensen said.
“The Sierra Club wants to substitute their judgment for the judgment of the elected and appointed leadership,” he said.
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