Laguna Niguel Cityhood Foes Unswayed By Rosy Forecast

If Laguna Niguel were to become a city, it would enjoy a heathly $3.5-million surplus in its first full year of cityhood, according to a financial study released Monday.

The study, made for the Laguna Niguel Community Services District, updated a cityhood feasibility survey made last year that projected a $1.8-million surplus in the first year of cityhood.

But rapid growth in both population and commercial development in the Laguna Niguel area is expected to nearly double that amount, according to the study released Monday. The new projections also assumed the cost of 30 sheriff’s deputies, compared to the cost of 14 deputies in the initial study.

Supporters of cityhood for Laguna Niguel hailed the findings.

‘Solved the Question’

“I think we’ve solved the question about are we feasible (for cityhood),” said Denny Harris, a member of the executive committee of Citizens for Cityhood, an organization spearheading the move for Laguna Niguel to become a city in the Nov. 7 election.

“We are going to be more than adequately funded,” Harris said at a news conference called to discuss the financial projections.

But Debi Larsen, a spokeswoman for an opposition group called Stop Cityhood, said she is not swayed by the new report.

“It’s only a proposed budget,” Larsen said. “We still think they are pushing cityhood too fast. The courts still haven’t decided what will become of the coastal strip, and we think that should be settled before we talk about cityhood.”

Larsen was referring to Laguna Niguel’s legal battle to regain Monarch Beach, which is now part of the new city of Dana Point. The 4th District Court of Appeal in Santa Ana is expected to rule on the issue next year.

Harris and other Citizens for Cityhood supporters contend that incorporation is Laguna Niguel’s best chance to recover Monarch Beach. “We have to become a city so that the court will have a place to put Monarch Beach when they take it away from Dana Point,” Harris has said.

Can Afford It, Foes Say

Stop Cityhood, with about 25 members, contends the community cannot afford the expenses of cityhood.

But Harris said the new report, prepared by Christensen & Wallace Inc. of Oceanside, shows that Laguna Niguel can easily afford cityhood. “This study is very conservative and tells us we are going to make it nicely,” he said.

The report said: “If the carry-over balance from the interim year is considered as revenue for the operating year, the general fund surplus amounts to $3,529,332, or 30.9%, of general fund revenues.”

Laguna Niguel’s population is about 38,000--an increase of 11,000 residents in a year, according to the study. The community is expected to grow to 67,000 in the next 10 years. And new commercial construction already under way is projected to generate $1.5 million more a year in sales tax revenue than originally forecast.

If a majority of those residents voting Nov. 7 favor cityhood, Laguna Niguel would become incorporated Dec. 1. The Dec. 1-June 30, 1990, period would be an “interim year,” the study noted. The city’s first full year of operation would be from July 1, 1990, to June 30, 1991.

Harris, during the news conference, raised the issue of a proposed jail site in Laguna Niguel as another plus for cityhood.

“As an unincorporated area, Laguna Niguel would not have a lot to say (about a jail site), but as a city, we could have a lot to say,” Harris said.

Harris referred to an updated environmental impact report approved last month by the county Board of Supervisors. That report listed the South County Civic Center at Alicia Parkway and Crown Valley Parkway as a possible jail site, triggering an uproar among some Laguna Niguel residents. County officials, however, said the report was a legal document in a pending court case and that Laguna Niguel has nothing to worry about.

But Cindy O’Neal, a member of the planning committee for the Laguna Niguel Community Council, said she is not reassured by repeated statements from county officials that Laguna Niguel has nothing to worry about.

“I most definitely think this is another reason why we should be in favor of cityhood,” O’Neal said.