New "No Trespassing" Signs at the South End of Ladera Ranch

[GrampyGear]

I was on my regular workout lap around the south end of Ladera today, and came across two fresh "No Tresspassing" signs at the top of the fire road climb at the south end of Covenant Hills. This is where the Sienna Botanica Trail meets the Ladera Ranch Trail, bottom center of the official Ladera Ranch Trails Map. There's a copy of this map attached at the bottom of this post.



The first photo is at the top of the "Hot Horseshoe," as it's called on Strava. This is the road I use every time I make this loop. It's a wide, well-maintained access road that links up to the 2 "Bs" of Ladera just past that big holding pond. The second photo shows a path that is actually a section of the "Ladera Ranch Trail," as seen on the trails map. In the satellite view, the Hot Horseshoe is the one to the south, with the Ladera Ranch Trail being the other one, natch.

So I'm having a hard time understanding something -- and maybe someone here can help to clear the fog from my dumb head -- but what kind of plant or animal exists that can handle the construction and frequent maintenance of a 10-foot-wide road, but shrivels and dies at the passing of two 2-inch-wide bike tires on that same road? Surely there is an answer, but I'm stuck with the silly belief that anyone who believes this is a blithering moron. Since I'm sure it takes quite a lot of intelligence to print such a nice sign, and get all the words spelled right and everything, I know I must be the one who can't think straight.

And while we're at it, could someone please remind me, what is the purpose of the strikingly expensive Mello-Roos that we all pay to live in Ladera Ranch? I seem to have forgotten...

 

[da big hills]

wow you OC guys are always getting hammered. First there were those barbed wire fences at the bottom of a trail system. Then there is this no night riding closures. Finally this, no trespass in the middle of a trail network ?????.
Egads, we are so lucky out west

I did ride this evening, fantastic sunset. Trails were nice. Yesterday they would have been too moist. The purple sage last week only had a couple withering leaves on it, tonight those leaves have bounced back and look healthy. What an amazing plant.

 

[FijiRob]

Oh lovely. My bet is our good friends at Rancho Mission Viejo are behind this new situation. I'll need to check this out. All the gnatcathers they are disturbing at their new Sendero development need somewhere to seek shelter, and apparently it's on a fire road in Ladera.

 

[melster]

Wtf?

 

[mytrustysteed]

The answer will always come back to money and liability. The habitat is being "protected" so they can build the next development and extend the 241 toll road to the 5.

 

[FijiRob]

The answer will always come back to money and liability. The habitat is being "protected" so they can build the next development and extend the 241 toll road to the 5.

This is located on the other side of Antonio, nowhere close to the 241 toll. No doubt that RMV is behind this though, as they have proven to be a shitty neighbor of late. They are worried about random pockets of open space as they develop thousands of acres across the street. Nice double standard.

 

[dstepper]

The protected area does not need to be near the Toll road, just property bought and set aside in trade to develop. The bottom of Joplin Trail is now protected and closed to hikers and bikes.

Dean

 

[mytrustysteed]

This is located on the other side of Antonio, nowhere close to the 241 toll. No doubt that RMV is behind this though, as they have proven to be a shitty neighbor of late. They are worried about random pockets of open space as they develop thousands of acres across the street. Nice double standard.

My comment was more in general about all the land in that area they have blocked access to over the past 5-7 years. There is very little left of what we used to be able to ride out there.

 

[dstepper]

able to ride out there.

Or able to poach out there?

 

[FijiRob]

Well, I rode by there today and Rancho Mission Viejo is responsible for the new "closures". Wow, they are so awesome.

 

[mytrustysteed]

Or able to poach out there?

If that were the case I'd still be riding there.

 

[GrampyGear]

Well, if there was a bright side to these new signs, I guess it was that I harnessed the simmering rage to pedal up the east ridge of Ladera behind the apartments, and had a nice cruise down Firehose and Waterworx. I don't do Firehose much at all, but found yesterday that someone had just been out packing berms. So thanks to whoever put in the time and effort! The berms looked pretty sturdy and well-made!

 

[emejay]

Well, if there was a bright side to these new signs, I guess it was that I harnessed the simmering rage to pedal up the east ridge of Ladera behind the apartments, and had a nice cruise down Firehose and Waterworx. I don't do Firehose much at all, but found yesterday that someone had just been out packing berms. So thanks to whoever put in the time and effort! The berms looked pretty sturdy and well-made!

Where is Firehouse? I am familiar with Waterworx and where it starts just west of Antonio....

 

[GrampyGear]

Firehose drops from the east ridge of Ladera down to behind the fire station off of Antonio, just north of Crown Valley Pkwy. You can climb the ridge from the SE corner of the parking lot of the apartments located across the street from Jerry's Hot Dogs, or by going around the power station just south of there.

 

[FijiRob]

Firehose drops from the east ridge of Ladera down to behind the fire station off of Antonio, just north of Crown Valley Pkwy. You can climb the ridge from the SE corner of the parking lot of the apartments located across the street from Jerry's Hot Dogs, or by going around the power station just south of there.

I'm sure Rancho Mission Viejo will figure out a way to close Firehose and the rest of the ridge trail without notice. Maybe us Ladera residents need to finally band together then show up for a LARMAC meeting to put some heat on our board.

 

[mtbfan]

This is becoming ridiculous, and the lame excuse of "Wildlife Habitat" is making me mad. We should really get a petition going to keep these and other trails open. Otherwise, they will continue to shut down everything and build more and more homes. It looks like there are a lot more OC Park signs with "No trespassing" going up. We are all paying taxes and OC Parks or the Toll road, or RMV should not be the only ones deciding what to do with this land. How do we start a petition?

 

[MnMDan]

Conditions of development required the establishment and maintenance of trails. Failure to maintain those trails by the company all you Ladera Residents pay into via your local and neighborhood associations is a violation of the agreements unless the funds/trails are currently being re-established.

Get after it though your association boards. It's akin to removing all the bicycle lanes on all the streets and relabeling them "routes". Both on-street and off-street trails are required. If I recall correctly, those trails and the extension/maintenance of the Trabuco trail from just below Tijeras until the Arroyo Trabuco golf course was also required as a way to reduce population pressures on nearby parks.

 

[scottywc]

This totally sucks. It's all the work of RMV. A fellow rider and I have been talking with them about their trails and the fact they keep closing trails that have been open for years all in the name of a protected bird. Um, yeah, the 14,000 homes you're building aren't impacting the birds habitat but a bike trail is? I think not.

While it's easy to piss and moan on an internet forum, we need to get the word out to RMV this is not cool and they need to work with us. We love the land and want to see it opened so the public and enjoy it. It's one of the reasons we live here. We need to band together to get there attention.

 

[FijiRob]

I'll join forces with ya.

This totally sucks. It's all the work of RMV. A fellow rider and I have been talking with them about their trails and the fact they keep closing trails that have been open for years all in the name of a protected bird. Um, yeah, the 14,000 homes you're building aren't impacting the birds habitat but a bike trail is? I think not.

While it's easy to piss and moan on an internet forum, we need to get the word out to RMV this is not cool and they need to work with us. We love the land and want to see it opened so the public and enjoy it. It's one of the reasons we live here. We need to band together to get there attention.

 

[Formu1fan]

Conditions of development required the establishment and maintenance of trails. Failure to maintain those trails by the company all you Ladera Residents pay into via your local and neighborhood associations is a violation of the agreements unless the funds/trails are currently being re-established.

Get after it though your association boards. It's akin to removing all the bicycle lanes on all the streets and relabeling them "routes". Both on-street and off-street trails are required. If I recall correctly, those trails and the extension/maintenance of the Trabuco trail from just below Tijeras until the Arroyo Trabuco golf course was also required as a way to reduce population pressures on nearby parks.

Were the trails established and funded by a CEQA mitigation? If so, you don't even need to be a resident, as they are (just about) breaking the law. If you could find the documentation, then you can pressure the city or county to do something.