Talk about improving with age. In 1991, City of Anaheim leaders approved The Irvine Company's long-range master plan for Mountain Park, the area that lies partly within Anaheim's borders and partly within its sphere of influence. Then, as now, a key goal of the city was to provide new for-sale housing near permanently preserved open spaces, recreational opportunities and jobs.

The original plan did all those things. But we believe the new vision - has gotten better over time.

In November 2001, Donald Bren, chairman of The Irvine Company, announced the permanent preservation of an additional 11,000 acres on The Irvine Ranch^®. Much of the land is near Mountain Park. The announcement inspired us to rethink the vision for the community.

Our challenge has been how to transform the land - which is currently dominated by a highly visible sand-and-gravel operation - into a thoughtfully planned community of needed homes that is respectful of the vast wilderness that surrounds it.

We believe the new vision for Mountain Park does just that. In fact, the plan preserves nearly 90 percent - 2,653 out of 3,001 total acres - of the land as parks, trails and permanently preserved open space, and sets the stage for major new links to the surrounding wildlands and nearby established parks like Featherly Regional Park.

To make all this possible, the new vision significantly reduces the number of approved homes, from 8,000 in the original plan to fewer than 2,500. Even so, the plan supports Anaheim's goal - recently reaffirmed as part of the city's General Plan Update - of providing new for-sale housing within easy reach of open spaces, recreational opportunities and jobs.