Laguna Gets Control Over Ocean Area

State government, which jealously guards its tidal empire, on Thursday yielded, without a shot, two miles of coastline jurisdiction to Laguna Beach.

Technically, the South Laguna coastal area yielded by the state is still part of unincorporated Orange County. But as of Dec. 31, the land from the existing southern borders of Laguna Beach to Three Arch Bay will become annexed to the city.

“We’re just delaying the effective date (of annexation) to Dec. 31 to give us time to hire the police and firefighters we’ll need,” Laguna Beach City Manager Kenneth C. Frank said Thursday.

Although the annexation question was all settled, Laguna Beach’s newly expanded territory, by state law, could extend only to the low-tide mark.

By contrast, the existing city limits of the scenic coastal city extend three miles from the shore out into the ocean. Frank, in a telephone interview from Laguna Beach, said the city wanted its new boundaries also to extend three miles out from the shore.

The California Lands Commission would need to grant such a right. That body--which oversees state offshore drilling, among other things--voted Thursday, 3 to 0, to give Laguna Beach jurisdiction over the soon-to-be-annexed southern shoreline and the area three miles out to sea.

‘No Big Money Issue’

There was no debate or discussion on the item, but Lands Commission officials said later that yielding to cities by state government isn’t always routine. “Some cities along the coast have this three-mile jurisdiction and some don’t,” said Curtis Fossum, a lawyer for the Lands Commission. “In Laguna Beach’s case, there is no big money issue, because there are no offshore oil wells in that area.

“Giving the city three-mile jurisdiction mainly simplifies jurisdiction. The city now has police power over that area. If, for instance, a man committed a crime on land and started to flee by boat, the city police have jurisdiction now over that ocean area.”

Frank, however, said later that people in Orange County shouldn’t hold their breaths waiting for an exciting “Miami Vice-like” sea chase by Laguna Beach police: “The city doesn’t have boats for purposes like that, and we ordinarily depend on the sheriff’s Harbor Patrol,”

Frank added: “Really, this three-mile thing is no big deal. We have it for the rest of the city, and we just wanted it for the new area.”

However, he could see one possible future benefit to Laguna Beach residents, who historically have been opposed to offshore drilling and other man-made dangers to the scenic coastline in their area: “I think this new (offshore area yielded by the state) may be helpful to us if there are any environmental threats in the future.”