Land SE of PS/Altair (Modified: Environmental Concerns Broadly)

peregrine

New member
I've been trying to identify the large parcel of land immediately SE adjacent of Altair and the IP communities in Portola Springs. Asked the IP agents to no avail ("Don't know, but I hope it's future retail.")

City of Irvine GP, Figure L-3 indicates "NCCP habitat identified for future public ownership by Facilitation Agreement ... between the City and the land owner."

What is the history of this area? Is this former military land (looks like there might be some bunkers out there)? Has it been remediated? Is it irrevocably preserved for conservation or could this be developed in the future? There are facilities in the middle of this tract but nothing seemingly available online that would identify them, the only label I've found being "Private Road."

Thank you.
 

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Are there any environmental concerns in Portola Springs other than an FBI shooting range to the south? (Not sure how close that is to the homes in Portola Springs as some of that area appears to be dedicated conservation space which may serve as a buffer.)

Orchard Hills seems to have both asphalt plant and pesticide concerns, GP a superfund past, PS ...? Historical satellite indicates an agricultural history but there doesn't appear to be active spraying. Thanks.
 
peregrine said:
Are there any environmental concerns in Portola Springs other than an FBI shooting range to the south?

The only environmental concern is the Toll Road depending on how close the property is to it.
 
Not trying to YF it, but there is a county landfill everyone seems to forgot about. I personally don?t think it?s a concerning level of environmental hazardous matter though. Just posting in case anyone cares.
 
Reader but never posted anything - I just struggle so much when PS gets bashed for being "close to the toll road" but then, 241 has LESS traffic than Irvine Blvd and Portola Parkway (I lived bordering both), FAR LESS traffic than Jamboree / Culver (lived near both), and VASTLY LESS traffic than 405 and 5 (hello Quail Hill, Laguna Altura, Cypress Village, parts of Woodbury).

On the issue of landfill, again, if you're LOOKING to find a smell attributable to it, you may or may not find it when wind inversion happens twice a day. You may catch a whiff for 10-15 minutes until the winds pick up again in their usual bimodal directions. Believe me, I've tried, it's hard to FIND it, but when you TRY hard, you'll find it eventually 1-2 times per week and wonder what it is but then it is gone in 10-15 min. Then again, Stonegate, Eastwood, Great Park are all very similarly equidistance. Lambert Ranch is literally closer than most of Portola Springs. I passed near Woodbury the other day, and the car filled with a bad stench passing the area, cleared up near spectrum. I work in Laguna Hills and smell odors more commonly than in any area of Irvine. If you WANT to find a smell, you?ll find it no matter what neighborhood you?re in (hello Asphalt smell in Orchard Hills, Northpark). When we got serious to buy in Woodbury, we easily noticed the trucks cause more noise and smell and dust than anything else, which was confirmed by the neighbor of the house we were about to put an offer on (hello, Woodbury, Cypress Village, Stonegate). His defense was his house was one more house away from sand canyon and he thinks it?s not too bad for him as much as the house we were going to put offer on.

I say all of this not to join the bashing trend here. I say this because, the talks in these forums are paralyzing for new buyers. You?re literally insecure on deciding on any neighborhood and then after you work through your fears provoked by these forums, then you realize the floor plans are bad in a lot of areas or very dated and compartmentalized (northpark, northwood estates, northpark square) or have very small rooms (orchard hills) or have a yard resembling a matchstick box (literally 90% of inventory in Irvine built after 2010 priced less than 1.5 mil) or you have five houses looking inside your house (hello orchard hills) or you have no ability to have any decent amount of sunlight in the house due to the direction of all houses (Cypress village, Woodbury).

We seriously looked and thought about buying in Orchard Hills, then realized the asphalt and roundup pesticide discussion, and then saw half the properties empty and the remainder filled 80% with FCBs and figured we should not put $500/sqft. We looked in Quail Hill, but found the prices far worse and houses older. But, I don't see anybody in these forums bashing QH for being so close to 405. I mean, 405 traffic (apples) vs 241's significantly lower volume of traffic (oranges).

I think there is too much bashing of neighborhoods around here, depending on which poster has property or interests in which neighborhood (and hence, driving down the value of other neighboring hoods to raise their own). There is NO PERFECT neighborhood. We are all EXTREMELY FORTUNATE to have a chance to live in Irvine, and most of us are sacrificing a LOT to live here, mainly for the education of our children, the relative safety, and the significant diversity that allows the melting pot live peacefully. But only in Irvine forums, you'd find people BASHING their own city/hoods for no clear reason. I mean, I am colleagues with people with gross income of over 600-700k / year who choose to live in Yorba Linda, or Chino Hills, or Tustin Legacy (waste management area, I know), or Brea (yeah, the other landfill). You simply don?t see so much self destructive comments on these areas. They simply live and go on. I know people much more deserving of a house in Irvine, who wish they could just come up with the down, and not commute from corona. And all they?d wish for is to live in any of these neighborhoods in Irvine that are being bashed by people in these forums. The crowd here is just self centered and cannot find much better to do with their lives than to remind everyone how the landfill is close to PS and how the toll highway traffic is a hazard they cannot live with but would gladly live in Quail Hill because 405 traffic is nonsense when you live in such prestigious area as Quail Hill.

Let's hope to a time when terms such as "landfill ranch" and "potty springs" are less used. Some of us live in these areas and would like to keep its reputation unblemished.

And if the env hazard of living near 241 or the landfill that's 2 miles away cannot sit straight with you, I invite people to not consider these neighborhoods, and I invite most people to look in the mirror and on the scale, look at the iPads their children are holding in their hands 16 hours a day, and look at how much time they're spending exercising. These are far more hazardous things you can actually modify. And enjoy life more so you come to these forums less often to post repeated comments on how the landfill and 241 are close to Portola springs. We all have a map. We know. Thank you for yet another reminder. We should make a sticky on the forum stating that PS borders 241 and is the closest to landfill. That way there is less time spent repeating these two facts of life and we can all spend more time with our families.

 
mountaineer said:
Reader but never posted anything - I just struggle so much when PS gets bashed for being "close to the toll road" but then, 241 has LESS traffic than Irvine Blvd and Portola Parkway (I lived bordering both), FAR LESS traffic than Jamboree / Culver (lived near both), and VASTLY LESS traffic than 405 and 5 (hello Quail Hill, Laguna Altura, Cypress Village, parts of Woodbury).

On the issue of landfill, again, if you're LOOKING to find a smell attributable to it, you may or may not find it when wind inversion happens twice a day. You may catch a whiff for 10-15 minutes until the winds pick up again in their usual bimodal directions. Believe me, I've tried, it's hard to FIND it, but when you TRY hard, you'll find it eventually 1-2 times per week and wonder what it is but then it is gone in 10-15 min. Then again, Stonegate, Eastwood, Great Park are all very similarly equidistance. Lambert Ranch is literally closer than most of Portola Springs. I passed near Woodbury the other day, and the car filled with a bad stench passing the area, cleared up near spectrum. I work in Laguna Hills and smell odors more commonly than in any area of Irvine. If you WANT to find a smell, you?ll find it no matter what neighborhood you?re in (hello Asphalt smell in Orchard Hills, Northpark). When we got serious to buy in Woodbury, we easily noticed the trucks cause more noise and smell and dust than anything else, which was confirmed by the neighbor of the house we were about to put an offer on (hello, Woodbury, Cypress Village, Stonegate). His defense was his house was one more house away from sand canyon and he thinks it?s not too bad for him as much as the house we were going to put offer on.

I say all of this not to join the bashing trend here. I say this because, the talks in these forums are paralyzing for new buyers. You?re literally insecure on deciding on any neighborhood and then after you work through your fears provoked by these forums, then you realize the floor plans are bad in a lot of areas or very dated and compartmentalized (northpark, northwood estates, northpark square) or have very small rooms (orchard hills) or have a yard resembling a matchstick box (literally 90% of inventory in Irvine built after 2010 priced less than 1.5 mil) or you have five houses looking inside your house (hello orchard hills) or you have no ability to have any decent amount of sunlight in the house due to the direction of all houses (Cypress village, Woodbury).

We seriously looked and thought about buying in Orchard Hills, then realized the asphalt and roundup pesticide discussion, and then saw half the properties empty and the remainder filled 80% with FCBs and figured we should not put $500/sqft. We looked in Quail Hill, but found the prices far worse and houses older. But, I don't see anybody in these forums bashing QH for being so close to 405. I mean, 405 traffic (apples) vs 241's significantly lower volume of traffic (oranges).

I think there is too much bashing of neighborhoods around here, depending on which poster has property or interests in which neighborhood (and hence, driving down the value of other neighboring hoods to raise their own). There is NO PERFECT neighborhood. We are all EXTREMELY FORTUNATE to have a chance to live in Irvine, and most of us are sacrificing a LOT to live here, mainly for the education of our children, the relative safety, and the significant diversity that allows the melting pot live peacefully. But only in Irvine forums, you'd find people BASHING their own city/hoods for no clear reason. I mean, I am colleagues with people with gross income of over 600-700k / year who choose to live in Yorba Linda, or Chino Hills, or Tustin Legacy (waste management area, I know), or Brea (yeah, the other landfill). You simply don?t see so much self destructive comments on these areas. They simply live and go on. I know people much more deserving of a house in Irvine, who wish they could just come up with the down, and not commute from corona. And all they?d wish for is to live in any of these neighborhoods in Irvine that are being bashed by people in these forums. The crowd here is just self centered and cannot find much better to do with their lives than to remind everyone how the landfill is close to PS and how the toll highway traffic is a hazard they cannot live with but would gladly live in Quail Hill because 405 traffic is nonsense when you live in such prestigious area as Quail Hill.

Let's hope to a time when terms such as "landfill ranch" and "potty springs" are less used. Some of us live in these areas and would like to keep its reputation unblemished.

And if the env hazard of living near 241 or the landfill that's 2 miles away cannot sit straight with you, I invite people to not consider these neighborhoods, and I invite most people to look in the mirror and on the scale, look at the iPads their children are holding in their hands 16 hours a day, and look at how much time they're spending exercising. These are far more hazardous things you can actually modify. And enjoy life more so you come to these forums less often to post repeated comments on how the landfill and 241 are close to Portola springs. We all have a map. We know. Thank you for yet another reminder. We should make a sticky on the forum stating that PS borders 241 and is the closest to landfill. That way there is less time spent repeating these two facts of life and we can all spend more time with our families.

Unclench that sphincter, PS was just named ?Village of the Year? in the December issue of the Irvine Standard!!

So what if it?s just propaganda from TIC...  FCB?s are used to that.

Farewell Potty Springs, Landfill Ranch, Value Village...

Hello to the next Bel Air of Irvine... or was that supposed to be Orchard Hills??
 
TIC recently started building in PS.

They hired YF/BTB (or should we say mountaineer?) to promote this area now.


My thoughts
EW had some help from YF for sure.
OH had BTB worked hard to get that cemetery relocated and homeless shelter rumors, etc. to compete against 5P (GP). But never could thought of that asphalt coming. ;D
PS had no help so far so we'll see how it goes.


This post is for entertainment purposes only for those who didn't get it.
 
Entertainment or not, you seem to think the readers of this forum have agendas like the rest of you professional posters who spend inordinate amount of time browsing and posting in these forums.

I?m simply a reader until yesterday and one who got frustrated with the nonsense ?Environmental hazard? post about 241 highway. Did we seem to forget the 5 and the 405?

As you suggested, these ?rumors? do end up devaluing certain areas. And it would be simply amazing if we can just agree that 241 hazards are far less than 5 or 405. And maybe if we come to this conclusion, maybe one day people can stop posting comments like ?the only hazard would be the toll road?. Like literally, in what universe do you live that you cannot simply do a simple math of the number of cars on 5 and 405 versus 241. I mean, yeah, the inauguration crowd for my presidency was the largest in history. He also thinks it?s all entertainment. And look where we are as the fabric of the society is being torn apart by an entertainment man who is an addict of another forum, Twitter.

What you post here is not too far away from that. People live in these areas. And by spewing nonsense, values of houses get affected, parents talk about it, kids hear and belittle each other for living in ?landfill ranch? and think highly of themselves if their grandparents cash purchased a house in OH for their fortunate son and grandchildren.

We all work hard to get to where we are and maybe even get lucky enough to buy a place in Irvine. But then, professional nonsense posters here just try to ruin it for everyone.
 
I would say all freeways are an environmental concern, the noise that would come with it is bad enough for me to avoid any homes near any freeways or major streets.  This would be for all Irvine homes. 

I guess PS is better that it only has a toll road vs GP right down the street having a toll road, Irvine blvd, and being on the old marine base?  Or is CV worse due to it being closer to the 5 freeway and sand canyon both being busier than PS. If you want to make an informed decision you need to weigh the pros and cons and people post their thoughts here, you can agree or disagree.
 
@mountaineer, the op asked about broad environment concerns specifically to this area, the toll road being the only one, isn't that a good thing? 

Go on ND and see the complaints and rants on no retail, Irvine wanting to build more homes in the area, how there are odors, noise pollution from GP's concerts, how PS is farther than everything else, yet I've said OH and PS to In n Out is about the same...I don't hate on PS, I just tell it how it is in my eyes. And if everyone is saying similar things, there has to be some truth to it, even if you don't agree. 
 
akkord said:
@mountaineer, the op asked about broad environment concerns specifically to this area, the toll road being the only one, isn't that a good thing? 

Go on ND and see the complaints and rants on no retail, Irvine wanting to build more homes in the area, how there are odors, noise pollution from GP's concerts, how PS is farther than everything else, yet I've said OH and PS to In n Out is about the same...I don't hate on PS, I just tell it how it is in my eyes. And if everyone is saying similar things, there has to be some truth to it, even if you don't agree.

Yes, I've lived around Laguna Altura, far worse highway smog and noise.

Yes, I've lived near Portola Parkway and Culver, far far worse noise from cars, day and night, and some spectacular car crashes with no survivor identifiable even.

So yes, PS has FAR LESS noise and smog that most neighborhoods in Irvine. It's about time some reason is brought back to these forums.

The problem is that minority in these forums, those vocal professional posters like yourself and others with 1000s of posts to their name, feel like all of your "views" are correct because they remain uncontested. The reality is, the houses is PS and GP are selling. And yes, we don't have "prestige" attached to your neighborhoods. Got it. And if "VALUE" village means I'm getting a single-family home for $400/sqf with a nice view (at 1.2-1.3 mil, so much "value" there broadly speaking), VERSUS the absurdity that is blindly FCB-driven that is Orchard Hills for $500-550/sqf with absolute zero privacy and zero view, yeah, I guess I'm happy to in the minority that prefers the "value" here.

Again, the crowd here is so full of themselves thinking that a 3000 sqft house in Irvine at 1.2 mil is certainly inferior and "value" like 99-cent store value.

The crowd here on these forums are borderline rivaling the worst stereotypes that is associated with the Newport crowd. And I've met much more humble, "value" driven people from Newport than the crowd here. Calling a 3000 sqft house priced at $1.2 million a "value". Unbelievable.

Now onto your comments here about PS vs other places:
"Go on ND and see the complaints and rants on no retail" - have been a member of ND, read it all the time, haven't read anything that would resembles "ALL" the complaints. Woodbury shopping is literally 5 minutes away.

"Irvine wanting to build more homes in the area," - yes, PS is FAR FAR less dense than most areas in Irvine, at least now, and yes, the entirety that is Irvine is dense, far more dense than PS. Not only far more dense, but with significant lack of privacy with 5 neighbors with a view into your entire yard and room windows. At least in PS, we have lots of green and more separation between rows of houses. Have you been to Woodbury? Cypress Village? Orchard Hills below 1.5 mil?

"how there are odors," - again, beaten to death by you and others in these forums. There are NO odors from the LANDFILL unless you crazily frantically go out and search for it as I stated in the above post. My soil smells worse from overwatering than the landfill. Bee Canyon wash has minor odor sometimes. So do ALL THE OTHER CANYON WASHES elsewhere in Irvine. I lived bordering Jamboree and the wash/waterway near it and 261 has FAR FAR worse odors. I jogged, biked, and ran alongside it day in and day out and the smell is unforgettable. Asphalt smell? it's not made up, rarely I smell it in PS, but far worse in OH. My workplace in Laguna Hills smells worse most days, and smoggy from 5.

"noise pollution from GP's concerts," - I have YET to hear a single concert noise from GP concerts in PS north of Portola parkway. However, living near laguna Altura and Hidden Canyon, we would have unbearable concern noise for years when the amphitheater was still there. I could not even keep the windows open.

"how PS is farther than everything else," - again, made up crap here, 5 minutes from Woodbury shopping center, 3 minutes to 133 highway, 8 minutes to Spectrum parking lot total, 10 minutes to Whole Foods in Los Olivos marketplace. Again, you're making crap up just to serve your ridiculous points.

"yet I've said OH and PS to In n Out is about the same..." - Foothill ranch In and Out is literally 8-10 minutes away. And has NO LINES for drive thru - have you been to the In n Out at Tustin Markerplace? The drive through wait is literally 45 minutes minimum. The line loops around to entryway to REI most days and night.

"I don't hate on PS, I just tell it how it is in my eyes." - Sure, last defense, Trump also says Twitter rants are his opinion. It doesn't diminish the fact that you're spewing skewed views on ONE SIGNULAR neighborhood just to prove your point. You must have been the annoying kid in the school that nobody could even prove any factual matters to. You always said the last word, and you repeated it until you graduated and went on to make points to others in college, and now in your workplace.

I'm not asking you to change your mind. I'm just hopeful the professional posters on these forums realize just because their posts are uncontested, does not mean they have everything right.

Yeah, PS is the closest to the landfill and borders 241. Got it! Thank you for reminding us.
 
mountaineer said:
Entertainment or not, you seem to think the readers of this forum have agendas like the rest of you professional posters who spend inordinate amount of time browsing and posting in these forums.

I?m simply a reader until yesterday and one who got frustrated with the nonsense ?Environmental hazard? post about 241 highway. Did we seem to forget the 5 and the 405?

As you suggested, these ?rumors? do end up devaluing certain areas. And it would be simply amazing if we can just agree that 241 hazards are far less than 5 or 405. And maybe if we come to this conclusion, maybe one day people can stop posting comments like ?the only hazard would be the toll road?. Like literally, in what universe do you live that you cannot simply do a simple math of the number of cars on 5 and 405 versus 241. I mean, yeah, the inauguration crowd for my presidency was the largest in history. He also thinks it?s all entertainment. And look where we are as the fabric of the society is being torn apart by an entertainment man who is an addict of another forum, Twitter.

What you post here is not too far away from that. People live in these areas. And by spewing nonsense, values of houses get affected, parents talk about it, kids hear and belittle each other for living in ?landfill ranch? and think highly of themselves if their grandparents cash purchased a house in OH for their fortunate son and grandchildren.

We all work hard to get to where we are and maybe even get lucky enough to buy a place in Irvine. But then, professional nonsense posters here just try to ruin it for everyone.

To be fair, I-5, I-405, Irvine Blvd. and streets alike are far worse then the 241 Toll Road in terms of pollution and the noise issues because there are simply just more cars on those roads. But we're not comparing homes built right next to these roads/freeways whereas some PS homes are right next to 241. But like I said (and many times before), I don't think being too close to 241 is concerning level. Some people just would like to know what's there, so some people chimed in.

Do you really think these posts impact the sales of homes and the price values? I don't think so. There are other reasons OH or EW homes have higher price tag than some PS homes. And to be real fair, PS homes carry higher MR and will be about the same in terms of mortgage/tax payments anyways. Also the way you wrote here made me not want to buy in PS even more. Landfill Ranch? Kids belittle each other? I never heard these things until you wrote it. Now more people know about those horrible facts that might actually impact the housing value. If you want, I can delete this post into "x" or "." if you know what I mean...

You keep saying people who post here think they they are right all the time or something. I don't think I'm right. In fact, I'm wrong many times. There is no absolute truth in human beings. We're not God. People just write their opinions which can change tomorrow. Isn't that what this forum is about? Prohibiting not to post such opinions is even more unethical or Trump/Kim Jong Un-like IMHO. If you think PS is a great buy, sharing your good experience living there would actually help people want to buy there.

From what I'm seeing, more and more people are buying PS now days so I don't think people talking bad about PS here is impacting anything at all, but it's just my opinion again, isn't it?

 
Back when lambert ranch was about to open, we called it landfill ranch, stink gate, porta potty springs?
How long ago was that?

Poster must have been reading for many years.


We have thousands of posts because TI has been up for 10 years.


In fact if you click on my profile, today is my 10 year anniversary making this account.
 
Again - you're projecting completely skewed exaggerated "facts" about PS. The entire NORTHPARK neighborhood is within 250 meters of either 261, Portola Parkway, or Culver or Irvine Blvd. The entire place. And yet, Very few homes brush against the 250 meter perimeter from 241 in the Portola Springs. The remainder are much farther away than 250 meters.

Same with Laguna Altura. 100% of the neighborhood is within 180 meters of 133 where it actually has traffic going to Laguna. On the other side, most of the neighborhood is swallowed by the 250 perimeter of 405.

Go on and on, Quail Hill (most of it within 300 meters of 405 and 133), Cypress Village (no need to measure anything here), Eastwood (Portola Parkway, Irvine Blvd, Jeffrey literally border the place).

And yes, don't kid yourself and don't offer "delete post" blah blah. I don't need any deletion or adjustment of your posts. Go ahead and leave whatever you want. Posts in these forums DO end up putting fears into people's minds, and that's what's going on around the country, create fear (aka Fox News) and rule. And this is what you guys, the professional posters of these forums, are completely doing.

I also don't think the higher MR of PS truly changes the math equation that is $400/sqft vs ridiculous pricing that is Orchard Hills at $550/sqft. Truly? That's a 25-30% increase in the actual price of the home. Does PS truly has SUCH HIGH MR that it offsets the ridiculous pricing in OH or EW? Do the math for me and i'll gladly concede you're "right" on this one if the math truly works out the way you say it does.

Again, you're trying your best to prove your points. It's just not working out.

 
mountaineer said:
Again - you're projecting completely skewed exaggerated "facts" about PS. The entire NORTHPARK neighborhood is within 250 meters of either 261, Portola Parkway, or Culver or Irvine Blvd. The entire place. And yet, Very few homes brush against the 250 meter perimeter from 241 in the Portola Springs. The remainder are much farther away than 250 meters.

Same with Laguna Altura. 100% of the neighborhood is within 180 meters of 133 where it actually has traffic going to Laguna. On the other side, most of the neighborhood is swallowed by the 250 perimeter of 405.

Go on and on, Quail Hill (most of it within 300 meters of 405 and 133), Cypress Village (no need to measure anything here), Eastwood (Portola Parkway, Irvine Blvd, Jeffrey literally border the place).

And yes, don't kid yourself and don't offer "delete post" blah blah. I don't need any deletion or adjustment of your posts. Go ahead and leave whatever you want. Posts in these forums DO end up putting fears into people's minds, and that's what's going on around the country, create fear (aka Fox News) and rule. And this is what you guys, the professional posters of these forums, are completely doing.

I also don't think the higher MR of PS truly changes the math equation that is $400/sqft vs ridiculous pricing that is Orchard Hills at $550/sqft. Truly? That's a 25-30% increase in the actual price of the home. Does PS truly has SUCH HIGH MR that it offsets the ridiculous pricing in OH or EW? Do the math for me and i'll gladly concede you're "right" on this one if the math truly works out the way you say it does.

Again, you're trying your best to prove your points. It's just not working out.

I wasn't trying to convince or prove my points to you. I was just posting my opinions, but if it came off like that, then that's your opinion and take. Seems like you're the one who think your points and opinions are right all the time by bashing on those non-PS/GP villages. That's your perspective I can't change. I respect your positive views on PS and GP, but at the end you're doing the same thing you're criticizing about. I'm also totally OK if you're PS/GP rep. Thanks for staying pretty civil though. I do agree with you that living in Irvine is a privilege and those $1m+ homes shouldn't be called "value villages."
 
zubs said:
Back when lambert ranch was about to open, we called it landfill ranch, stink gate, porta potty springs?
How long ago was that?

Poster must have been reading for many years.


We have thousands of posts because TI has been up for 10 years.


In fact if you click on my profile, today is my 10 year anniversary making this account.

The poster is a sold-out-YF paid by 5P. JK.

Happy anniversary.
 
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