Protesters Take Issue to Developer’s Doorstep

A small group of environmentalists, political leaders and Laguna Beach officials picketed the chairman of the Irvine Co. on Monday in their first organized demonstration against the company’s plans for developing part of Laguna Canyon.

For 10 years, Irvine Co. officials have sought approval for the 2,150-acre Laguna Laurel Planned Community, an ambitious development project on unincorporated county land that would include recreational areas and a shopping center next to Leisure World in Laguna Hills.

A voluminous environmental impact report was released late last month, an indication that, with final approvals, the project could break ground by early next year, Irvine Co. officials said. Community hearings on the impact report are scheduled for next week. The matter then would go to the county Planning Commission and Board of Supervisors for final review.

Hoping to gain public support before a Sept. 20 public hearing to be held at El Morro Elementary School, about 25 protesters gathered Monday at the gated entrance to Linda Isle in Newport Beach, where Irvine Co. Chairman Donald Bren reportedly lives, to voice their objections to the project.

In an interview before the demonstration, Laguna Beach City Councilwoman Lida Lenney said protesters wanted to picket within shouting distance of Bren’s home because he has never personally responded to their objections.

“We just thought that if we took our objections to his front yard, so to speak, we would know that he has gotten our message,” Lenney said.

Capping the two-hour demonstration, the protesters lighted candles and waved handmade signs to motorists passing along Bayside Drive. The signs criticized both Bren and Thomas F. Riley, chairman of the Board of Supervisors, proclaiming, “Greed Can’t Succeed” and “Greenbelts, not Greenbacks.”

“I’m thrilled about being here,” Lenney said as she passed out flyers to motorists entering the exclusive island community. “What you’re seeing here is a group of dedicated people who are dying for a chance to do something to preserve their community.

“We need the open space as a relief from urbanization. There is a peaceful feeling that you can’t duplicate when you drive through (Laguna) canyon.”

An Irvine Co. official, reached before the demonstration, said Bren was aware that the protest was scheduled, but would be unavailable for comment.

The proposed 3,200-home community on both sides of Laguna Canyon Road is bounded on the north and west by Irvine, on the east by the Leisure World, and the south by Laguna Beach and Crystal Cove State Park.

Lenney and other community leaders said that despite assurances from Irvine Co. officials that more than half of the project would be preserved as open space, the planned community would destroy much of the beauty of the chaparral-covered hills surrounding Laguna Canyon Road.

They said the project--which calls for widening Laguna Canyon Road to a six-lane highway, a plan that has repeatedly been blocked by the Laguna Beach City Council--would cause extreme traffic jams for Laguna Beach commuters. The impact report estimates that the development would add 36,000 additional cars to the highway each day.

They also argue that building on the rolling hills would further destroy natural runoff in the canyon. Last month, Irvine Co. and county officials said that the Laguna Lakes, which are in the middle of the proposed community, are dying because of man-made runoff at Leisure World.

Lenney and others attending the late-afternoon rally said that despite the long series of meetings and hearings on the issue, public opposition has never been taken seriously.

But Irvine Co. spokeswoman Kathleen Campini said in an interview before the rally that the public has had ample opportunity to voice objections over the project and wondered why Lenney and others organized to picket in front of Bren’s neighborhood.

“We find it difficult to understand why they have chosen this type of activity to express their objections,” Campini said.

She said that the company has made many concessions to environmentalists, such as offering to donate 1,137 acres to the county for a Laguna Laurel Regional Park to “form a scenic backdrop” to the planned community.

The company also would donate 48 acres for a proposed Laguna Lakes Regional Park. The donation, according to Irvine Co. officials, would help save the only natural lake left in the county.

“We have really been working closely with the (Laguna Beach) Conservancy,” Campini said. “The Irvine Co. has an outstanding record of working with them and other (environmental) groups.”

The planned community is to contain Mediterranean-style single-family homes, condominiums and apartments scattered in the northern section of the project area, according to Irvine Co. documents. A nine-acre elementary school and a 12-acre shopping center are also planned along Laguna Canyon Road.

Below the housing and commercial tracts, the developer plans an 18-hole golf course and 26 acres of recreational park land, which would include bicycle trails, picnic areas and playing fields, according to an overview of the project.

The land reserved for open-space reserve--about 70% of the total project area--is more than double the open space outlined in the original plan, Campini said. The changes were ordered by Irvine Co. officials after a number of public and private meetings with local environmentalists.

“The Laguna Laurel Planned Community is the culmination of many years of effort directed toward the development of a residential community nestled within the natural beauty of the surrounding canyon land,” according to a 13-page Irvine Co. overview of the community.

But protesters claimed Monday that the project would eventually destroy the ecosystem of the canyon.

“I drive home through the canyon every day,” said Paula Klein, a Laguna Beach resident who joined in the protest. “Sometimes I stop to get out and feel the countryside. It’s like a fix for me. But (the project) will kill that beauty.”

PROPOSED LAGUNA LAUREL PLANNED COMMUNITY

Developer: Irvine Co.

Location: Unincorporated area south of Irvine, west of Leisure World, north of Laguna Beach and Crystal Cove State Park

Size: 2,150 acres

Units: 3,200 Mediterranean-style houses, apartments and condominiums

Amenities: a 237-acre golf course, bicycle trails, playing fields and picnic areas

Traffic: 36,000 more vehicles projected on Laguna Canyon Road

Open space: 1,500 acres, including the golf course