Saddle Creek South Becomes First Purchased Property

OCTA has acquired approximately 950 acres of open space in 2011 as part of the Measure M2 Freeway Environmental Mitigation Program (Mitigation Program). OCTA's first purchase was Saddle Creek South, an 84-acre property in Trabuco Canyon that cost $3.2 million and the second property was the 296-acre Hayashi property in Brea that was purchased for $2.96 million.

The 399-acre Ferber Ranch property was purchased for $12.76 million, located northwest of Rancho Santa Margarita in Trabuco Canyon, and the O'Neill Oaks property for $4.3 million, a 119-acre property adjacent to the Cleveland National Forest and O'Neill Regional Park. The 48-acre Hafen property was purchased for $1.7 million and is located northwest of Rancho Santa Margarita in Trabuco Canyon. 

The funds have been allocated through OCTA's innovative Mitigation Program, which provides comprehensive mitigation of the environmental impacts of the 13 freeway improvement projects under Orange County's half-cent sales tax.

Using a proactive approach, the master agreement negotiated between the OCTA, Caltrans and state and federal wildlife agencies will provide higher value environmental benefits such as habitat protection, wildlife corridors and resource preservation in exchange for accelerated project approvals for the M2 freeway program as a whole.

The OCTA Board of Directors has allocated a total of $42 million to purchase open space in Orange County for the first round of funding. All funds are expected to be allocated within the next several months.