BACKGROUND

The Foothill Area of southeastern Orange County has been experiencing rapid growth in recent years, and although an adequate road system is planned for buildout, imbalances currently exist and were projected to exist throughout the interim (construction) stages of this area's development. Public concern regarding the ability of the existing road system to meet the transportation demands of the expanding population was heightened by the landowners' proposals for additional development in this area. In analyzing the public concerns in relation to the Land Use Element Amendment, county staff found that the existing circulation system was indeed inadequate to serve the additional traffic forecast to be generated by the proposed Foothill Area projects. Therefore, the FCPP was conceived and implemented to ensure that an acceptable roadway circulation system would be constructed to accommodate the traffic generated by future development. The FCPP further serves to address the concerns of the antigrowth movement, which has used the probability of increased traffic and congestion in the area as a rallying issue to oppose new development. In January 1987, the Orange County Board of Supervisors approved an agreement on the development of the FCPP financing and implementation program between the county and 11 original landowners involved in the FCPP. Six months later, the board of supervisors approved the financing and implementation program in principle and set county staff to the task of preparing refinements. The comprehensive plan of coordinated roadway construction and tract development was approved in September 1987. A month later the major thoroughfare and bridge fee program was adopted. These programs laid the foundation on which the FCPP was eventually built.

The FCPP was specifically designed to facilitate the development of the regional road network, to provide relief for existing transportation deficiencies, and to provide a balance between development and the availability of highway capacity to meet the transportation demands of that development. The FCPP ties the availability of building permits to the completion of defined roadway construction milestones. To