LAGUNA NIGUEL : Area Plan for Big Development OKd

As expected, the County Board of Supervisors on Wednesday approved an area plan for Laguna Niguel’s largest housing development.

But before the 5-0 vote by the supervisors, officials from the Laguna Niguel Community Council questioned new language in the development agreement between the county and Shapell Industries Inc. of Beverly Hills. The agreement governs the project that will eventually include 4,486 homes on 1,232 acres just south of Pacific Park Drive on the west side of Interstate 5.

Tom Wilson, president of the Laguna Niguel Community Council, pointed out that the council, which has been an intricate part of the negotiations with the county and Shapell, had not reviewed a paragraph in the agreement that dealt with a proposed wetland preserve.

“That condition did not receive formal review,” Wilson charged, adding that the “unilateral proposal” did not comply with the “true spirit” of the ongoing negotiations.

Before approving the area plan, the supervisors agreed to take out the new language. Area plans cover a relatively small area and include details on the protection of significant natural and man-made resources and the number of residential and commercial units in a development. The plan includes considerably more detail than zoning documents.

Last week the supervisors approved details of the area plan that reduced the number of homes by 291 and added more public parkland within the project. Laguna Niguel officials testified that they agreed with the plan after years of fighting between residents and the developer.

Cindy O’Neal, a member of the Laguna Niguel Community Council, said she was at first angered by the new language in the agreement and she evoked a strong response from Supervisors Chairman Thomas F. Riley when she likened it to “last-minute maneuvering.”

Riley said he was getting tired of people implying that the supervisors and county staff were doing something wrong behind closed doors.

County officials said the new language would have allowed for the implementation of a wetlands mitigation plan if approved by the federal government and the county.