250 Protest Laguna Laurel Plan : Irvine Co. Urged to Turn Canyon Into a ‘Central Park’

More than 250 opponents of a proposed planned community at the mouth of Laguna Canyon packed a public meeting Wednesday night, urging Irvine Co. officials to turn the 2,150-acre rolling countryside into a “Central Park of Orange County.”

Irvine Co. executives and county officials scheduled the 7 p.m. study session at El Morro Elementary School on Coast Highway in Laguna Beach to explain to the public the findings of an environmental impact report on the proposed Laguna Laurel Planned Community.

The Irvine Co. first proposed the 3,200-home upscale community in 1981 and is in the final stages of the lengthy permit process.

This week, Irvine Co. officials distributed a mailer to Laguna Beach residents to counter strong criticism of the project, which would be built in the Laguna Greenbelt area. The pamphlet was titled, “Laguna Laurel, a gift that preserves the canyon.”

Before the Wednesday night session, Laguna Beach city officials and local environmentalists ridiculed the pamphlet, saying it was “deceptive and misleading.”

“I’m afraid if we accept this gift from the Irvine Co., it will turn into a Trojan horse,” said Councilwoman Lida Lenney.

Mayor Robert F. Gentry agreed, saying: “If that’s a gift for the city of Laguna Beach, I’ll send it back unopened. We don’t want it. We don’t need it, and the people of Orange County don’t need it either.”

Gentry and others suggested that the Irvine Co. move all development in the Laguna Laurel project area to the Irvine Spectrum, a development under way near the convergence of the Santa Ana and San Diego freeways.

Foes of the project charge that any construction would upset the environmentally sensitive Laguna Greenbelt area, a swath of undeveloped crests and valleys that act as a buffer zone between Laguna Beach and the rest of the county.

City officials and leaders of the Laguna Canyon Conservancy and Laguna Greenbelt Inc. say that county officials have long ignored residents’ pleas to reject the plan.

The Wednesday night meeting was the culmination of a series of demonstrations against the project.

After spending a week picketing in front of the Newport Beach home of Irvine Co. Chairman Donald Bren, opponents moved picket lines to Laguna Canyon Road this week. They argue that the proposed site is a valuable natural resource for Orange County residents and should be preserved as a wildlife refuge.

During Wednesday night’s meeting, however, Irvine Co. consultants and county officials explained the results of a recently released environmental impact report, which outlines 136 ways to lessen the impact of the development on the rural countryside.

Two public hearings, tentatively set for November, will be held by the Orange County Planning Commission, Irvine Co. project director Carol Hoffman said.

If the Orange County Board of Supervisors approves the project, construction could begin by the fall of 1990, Hoffman said.

The project would include a shopping center, an 18-hole golf course and recreational and park areas, and would be close to the Spectrum, a commercial, office and industrial development.

In an interview before the meeting, Hoffman accused opponents of “creating the illusion” that the company is insensitive to environmental issues. Hoffman defended the pamphlet, which claims that more than two-thirds of the wooded, hilly canyon area that stretches almost to the San Diego Freeway would be preserved as open space.

“Laguna Laurel is the result of years of careful planning, public hearings and extensive community comment,” the pamphlet says.

“The gift of land will help complete a 23-square-mile public greenbelt” around Laguna Beach, according to the pamphlet, which was printed on recycled paper.

During Wednesday’s study session, Irvine officials said the initial plan has been changed so that all housing would be built in the northernmost section of the project area, which is bounded on the north and west by Irvine, on the south by Crystal Cove State Park and Laguna Beach, and on the east by Leisure World.

The project also encompasses Laguna Lakes, a three-lake system that will be donated to the county for a regional park, according to Irvine Co. documents.

The pamphlet also says Laguna Canyon Road will be widened as a result of the project, making the canyon route safer for motorists.

In response, Laguna Beach City Council members unanimously approved a plan Tuesday night to pay for the production of pamphlets critical of the project by Laguna Greenbelt Inc. Those pamphlets will be mailed to residents of Laguna Beach, Irvine, Leisure World and Laguna Hills, City Clerk Verna L. Rollinger said.