Laguna Beach Votes for Annexation of South Laguna, 4-0

The Laguna Beach City Council on Thursday night unanimously approved the annexation of South Laguna after protesters failed to muster enough support to force an election on the issue.

Voting 4 to 0, the council ordered City Manager Ken Frank to prepare an ordinance for a formal vote at the next council meeting, Aug. 18. Councilman Robert Gentry was absent.

Frank said the annexation will officially take place either Dec. 30 of this year or July 1, 1988, depending on talks with the county over who will pay for services in the unincorporated South Laguna area for the next year.

The county’s aid for another year would delay the financial impact on Laguna Beach of providing services for South Laguna’s 5,000 residents.

Protest Petitions

If annexation foes had received protest petitions from 25% of the registered voters in South Laguna, or 25% of the area’s property owners, the annexation issue would have gone to a special vote in November. But just 542 registered voters had signed protests by Thursday, 193 short of the 25% needed. Just 362 property owners registered their disapproval, 208 short of the 570 necessary.

Private citizens and a group calling itself the South Laguna Community Council implored the council Thursday night to put the issue to a vote. Susan Russell, chairwoman of the community group, said she got 60 protests in the mail Thursday and was sure that there would be more if the council would give the group more time.

“The democratic process deserves more of a chance than a mere tap of the gavel here tonight,” said Jim Russell, her husband.

But in a show of hands in the packed council chambers, a clear majority favored annexation.

Leaders of the South Laguna Civic Assn. have said there was overwhelming support for annexation. In April, the association released results of a mail poll showing that 93% of 1,400 area residents who responded favored annexation.

“We are being asked to respond to a minority or to respond to a majority,” Mayor Neil Fitzpatrick said. “The majority has spoken and it is for annexation.”

Preparing for the annexation, Laguna’s City Council on July 7 approved a tentative budget of $l.6 million to provide police, fire and other services to residents in the 2.1 square miles of South Laguna.

On the following day, the county’s Local Agency Formation Commission (Lafco) approved the annexation of an area whose boundaries follow those of the Laguna Beach Unified School District and include the gated community of Three Arch Bay.

If South Laguna did not join with Laguna Beach on the unincorporated area’s northern border, civic association leaders said they feared that Lafco might force South Laguna into a new, mostly inland city, formed with unincorporated Laguna Niguel to the south.

For several months, the county commissioners have threatened to do just that. Lafco members have said that as new cities form in southern Orange County, they did not want South Laguna to remain an “island” of unincorporated land--drawing on county services but bordered by Laguna Beach, a new city called Laguna Niguel, or possibly another new city composed of Dana Point and Capistrano Beach.

But the idea of being joined with Laguna Niguel was anathema to many South Laguna leaders, who said their coastal community is dissimilar in life style and environmental concern from the new bedroom community to the south.

In appearance alone, the close-knit South Laguna community, with wood-frame bungalows and stucco homes marching down green hills to the sea, looks nothing like Laguna Niguel, a sprawling, still-developing area whose ridges are sprouting tract home after tract home.

And, in attitudes, South Laguna leaders say the residents there are fiercely individualistic. Some say they would prefer not to be part of any city--even Laguna Beach--but that joining Laguna Beach would be the lesser of two evils.

Others, such as political science professor Jim Danziger, have said they do not believe Laguna Niguel residents would share South Laguna’s coastal concerns, including its opposition to offshore oil drilling.

Also, many Laguna Beach and South Laguna leaders believe that South Laguna has a greater affinity to artsy Laguna Beach than to Laguna Niguel. City Manager Frank said: “Their kids go to Laguna Beach schools. Their people play on our recreation teams. Their people shop up here. Our bus serves the area already. It’s just a logical annexation.”

But serious opposition to annexation emerged last week when the South Laguna Community Council sent flyers to 3,600 registered voters and property owners. They said annexation was being rushed and urged a strong protest. Susan Russell said that “a very few persons made the decision for a lot of people” in recommending annexation.

Donating $2,500 for the council mailing was Los Angeles County Firefighters Local 1014, which represents a dozen county firefighters in the South Laguna substation to be annexed by Laguna Beach. Orange County firefighters are members of the Los Angeles County union.

Dallas Jones, Local 1014 president, and the council flyers said that Laguna Beach would offer a level of fire and paramedic service inferior to that offered by the county firefighters.

Frank called that “nonsense” earlier this week. “There will still be a three-member engine company” after annexation, he said, and Laguna would provide a three-person paramedic company, instead of the present two-person van operated by the county.

Ron Blaisdell, chairman of the South Laguna Civic Assn.’s incorporation task force, called the council’s election-eve flyers “full of absolute blatant untruths.” But, he added, “I’m afraid it will jeopardize the annexation.”

A similar annexation effort emerged--and died--in 1982 after Lafco members decided that too many residents of South Laguna were opposed to the move. Because of that history, when South Laguna civic leaders proposed the annexation this March, Lafco members and some Laguna Beach officials were skeptical that the South Laguna residents were serious.

Laguna Beach Mayor Pro Tem Dan Kenney said then that he would listen to annexation proponents this time but that his attitude might be the same as in 1982 when he decided, “If you don’t want us, we don’t want you in Laguna.”