Chapter Three- The Incorporation Movement – ….doc

Chapter Three- The Incorporation Movement 1995 – 2004 By 1995, a distinct change occurred in the fledgling community as one chapter in its history ended and it prepared to embark upon another. The recession of the early 1990s resulted in one of the greatest downturns in the Southern California housing market. Many of the residents of the not even decade old community found themselves upside-down in their mortgages – owing more on their new homes than the homes were valued. With this, the housing market for a time dried up causing building to stagnate. The Santa Margarita Company’s partnership with Copley was coming to an end as the investor sought greener business pastures elsewhere. Although with this hardship for the developer came the beginnings of greater citizen involvement in terms of charting the direction for the community. Civic conscious residents for a variety of reasons were beginning to set their sights on the incorporation of the City of Rancho Santa Margarita. This in part was not only due to the downturn in the housing market but an ever expanding active citizenry dedicated to the protection of the original vision for their community. In essence by 1995 Rancho Santa Margarita was ripe for cityhood, and its citizens would make this a reality within the next five years. Early members of the cityhood movement cut their political teeth in organizations such as CASA and SAMLARC. The Santa Margarita Company early in the development started CASA, the Community Activities and Services Association, for the purposes of organizing social activities for the community. The association’s major activity was an annual western rodeo held in the spring in Rancho Santa Margarita. This capitalized on the development’s western ranching heritage so prominent in its theme. Other activities included Easter Egg Hunts and concerts at the Lake. Originally, the leaders of this organization were from the Santa Margarita Company but as residents moved in, the devel