Donna O'Neill Land Conservancy

By Brenda Miller

The land was intended to be preserved forever. San Clemente's obligation is to ensure that it will be.

San Clemente's Talega was created on condition that the owner of the O'Neill land agreed to have a Conservation Easement attached to the land to preserve it forever. Talega's developer paid a hefty sum to the landowner in return for the Conservation Easement, which prevents development of the land.

Over the last several years, there have been attempts by the Rancho Mission Viejo Company (a housing development corporation) to request a merger of the O'Neill Conservancy with The Reserve. The stated objective is to bring the Conservancy under the same Board that controls the Reserve. The vote to merge is required to be unanimous. Our town's vote is the last holdout on the merger.

San Clemente must exercise extreme caution here. Under no circumstances should the merger occur if the Conservation Easement is placed at risk. The Conservation Easement must endure forever, as originally intended. San Clemente's community of Talega and the legacy of Donna and Richard O'Neill must be able to rely upon that.

I will always advocate for the preservation of the Donna O'Neill Conservancy.