Trying to Hold the High Ground : Homes Imperil Laguna Knoll

For generations of residents, the highest knoll overlooking Laguna Beach has offered breathtaking views of the city below, the Saddleback Valley and mountains, and the sunset behind Santa Catalina Island.

But that may change.

If development plans proceed, a 7-acre mound of the highest peak in Laguna will be flattened to make way for houses.

The knoll, 1,031 feet above sea level, is scheduled for grading within the next 2 months to make room for 36 tract homes planned by M.J. Brock & Sons Inc. The Laguna Hills company bought the land in 1987 for $3 million from the Laguna Beach Unified School District.

Although plans for grading and construction have been approved by the City Council, the Planning Commission and the California Coastal Commission, nearby residents are putting up a fight.

“My kids used to play up there,” said Tallie Parrish, who spent 20 years raising her three children in the area. “They made roads for their little Matchbox toys and then when it rained, they went up there and rolled in the mud. It was great fun for them. For everyone.”

Said Carolyn Wood, who has lived a few blocks from the knoll for 22 years: “Losing the knoll means losing the spirit of Laguna Beach. It’s one of the main attributes that makes Laguna Beach and living up here special.”

The knoll sits above the Top of the World neighborhood and the larger development of Laguna Heights, and is encircled by Alta Laguna Boulevard and Tyrol Drive. The mound is dotted with jagged rocks and small craters created by years of erosion.

About two dozen residents who oppose the grading formed the Top of Laguna Conservancy--also known as TLC for the Environment--last December in an effort to save the knoll. The group has already filed two lawsuits challenging the Coastal Commission’s approval of a tract map for the site and is considering a suit to overturn the City Council’s approval, spokesman Wayne Ybarra said.

With support from several environmental organizations in the city such as the Laguna Greenbelt, the Laguna Canyon Conservancy and Village Laguna, the

group hopes to stall the grading process and persuade the developer to consider alternatives.

“We’re trying to get a better project for the land,” Ybarra said. “Less grading--to the extent of preserving the knoll--fewer home sites and custom homes.

“The issue of the knoll is more than just a neighborhood issue, it’s citywide; lots of people in the city use the knoll and the property around it,” he said. Nearly 25,000 people live in the city.

The school district sold the property to raise money to renovate its four schools, Supt. Dennis M. Smith said.

Smith said that to make up for a revenue decline caused by a drop in school enrollment, the district decided in 1981 to sell 20 acres of land that includes the knoll. The district drafted a tentative tract map that called for dedicating 13 acres to the city for a public park and subdividing the remaining 7 acres into 36 home sites. The plan was approved by the city’s Planning Commission in 1985, and M.J. Brock bought the land in 1987. The City Council added its final approval of the plan last November.

Only late last year did residents realize that the knoll would be lost, Ybarra said, when the developer told the council how much grading would be necessary and that the dirt would be spread near the rim of a nearby canyon.

‘Flat as a Pancake’

“At the time the city was first reviewing the tract map there was not an awareness by people of the damage to the knoll,” he said. “We thought the houses would be built around the knoll, but to chop it off and make it as flat as a pancake, we didn’t know that.”

Some residents argue that dumping the leftover soil in the canyon will destroy its natural state. But City Manager Kenneth C. Frank said the canyon slope will be reshaped and replanted.

Les Thomas, a division manager for M.J. Brock, said that after the knoll is graded it will stand at 1,013 above sea level and about 20 feet above Alta Laguna Boulevard. Thomas said the company is also planning to erect an “alternative knoll” in the city’s designated park site to try to maintain part of the view. The new area will continue to be the highest point in the city, at 1,015 feet above sea level.

“At this juncture, the (housing development) project has been approved for a few years now,” Thomas said.

“I understand that residents in the area have disagreements about the property and we’re trying to work with their suggestions,” Thomas said. “But the construction for the houses will begin,” he said.

Ybarra said TLC members would be willing to talk with M.J. Brock officials about ways to improve the existing development plan. “There’s room for improvement and working together,” he said. “Any minor change could help the knoll and the area for the better.”

One of the group’s plans is to have custom homes built on the land--instead of tract homes--so the city can retain its unique architecture and style. “Tract homes would rob the city of its character,” he said. “If anything, leave us with that.”

Prices Still to Be Set

Thomas said M.J. Brock officials plan to integrate some custom homes into the development, but are uncertain if all 36 homes will be custom built. He said sales prices are yet to be determined, and he declined to estimate what a typical house would cost. The company has not received approval for its housing designs from the city’s design review board and will not begin construction until approval is received, he said. However, he added that the plans for construction and grading are final.

Mayor Robert F. Gentry said that council members wanted to preserve the open space but decided that development of the knoll was necessary.

“The sale had to go through for the school district to improve its schools,” Gentry said. “We have to think of the students as well as the land.”