Coastal Commission takes up Laguna artist work/live project and The Ranch habitat on Wednesday

A controversial artist work/live project proposed for Laguna Canyon will come before the California Coastal Commission on Wednesday, 31 months after commissioners approved initial plans.

The panel will convene in Calabasas and mull sculptor Louis Longi and business partner Chris Dornin’s current proposal, which calls for 28 work/live units instead of 30, removal of decks on the rear of structures closest to Laguna Canyon Creek, and two fewer parking spaces, according to a commission staff report.

The units would be spread across two parcels that total 0.84 acres at 20412 and 20432 Laguna Canyon Road.

In December, Orange County Superior Court Judge Kim Dunning ordered the commission to rehear the matter and also revoke a coastal development permit approved in January 2015.

That directive followed a September ruling in which Dunning described the January 2015 hearing as an “unfair process” because six of 10 commissioners failed to properly disclose private communications with developers and yet subsequently voted on the project, according to court records.

In September, Dunning threw out commissioners’ approval, saying they failed to prove, with substantial evidence, that plans for the complex would satisfy setback requirements from the creek.

A group of residents called Friends of the Canyon sued the commission in March 2015, claiming the buildings should be placed farther away from the creek and that the project would be too large for the area.

The Laguna Beach Planning Commission and City Council each approved the project on 3-2 votes in 2014. The project has generated heated debate in Laguna throughout the past three years.

Proponents hail the housing as a way for more artists to live in a city known for its artistic heritage. Opponents claim the buildings are too large for the area and would harm the surrounding environment.

The current design includes two floors of work/live units arranged around exterior communal work spaces, according to the Coastal Commission staff report. A parking garage, proposed to include 45 spaces, would be located under the work/live spaces.

Work/live units range in size from 500 square feet to one 1,616 square-foot unit, the report said.

Restoration at The Ranch

Also on Wednesday, commissioners will consider Laguna Beach Golf & Bungalow Village, LLC’s plan for tree trimming and habitat restoration at its Aliso Canyon property known as The Ranch at Laguna Beach, in response to Coastal Commission staff’s concerns.

Ranch officials propose to restore and revegetate 3.31 acres of native vegetation within and along the banks of Aliso Creek, which cuts through the 84-acre property at 31106 S. Coast Hwy., in addition to removing 1.52 acres of non-native, invasive vegetation once per year, according to the Coastal Commission staff report.

Coastal staff in December 2015 sent a violation notice to The Ranch, saying the company failed to send a biological survey to the Coastal Commission’s executive director prior to tree trimming and removal that occurred Nov. 16 through 19, 2015, according to the staff report.

On those dates, crews trimmed trees and undertook “major vegetation removal in and along Aliso Creek” to address safety concerns of golfers being struck by airborne golf balls, presumably because they could not see other players, the report said.

Like the work/live project, The Ranch’s approval was also challenged in court.

Coastal commissioners in January 2015 approved a plan to renovate the hotel, once known as the Aliso Creek Inn, to boost the number of available rooms from 64 to 97, reconfigure a restaurant and add a spa and fitness center.

Resident Mark Fudge sued the city and the commission in March 2015, claiming, among other things, that plans for the hotel should have received greater scrutiny about possible harm to surrounding habitat.

bryce.alderton@latimes.com

Twitter: @AldertonBryce