Irvine Rejects Laguna Laurel Relocation Plan

City officials said “no thanks” to the Laguna Laurel project Wednesday, soundly rejecting a proposal to relocate the Irvine Co.’s controversial, 3,200-home planned community from pristine Laguna Canyon to their city.

“I liken it to a garbage barge of a development in search of a port,” Irvine Mayor Larry Agran said. “If those of us in Irvine are reluctant to provide one, that’s understandable.”

The move dealt a stiff blow to Laguna Beach officials and environmentalists who have fought for more than a decade to keep the houses out of the hills and slopes that make up Laguna Canyon. Laguna officials had hoped that moving the development to Irvine would be a satisfactory solution all around.

But after a closed meeting Wednesday with officials from Laguna Beach, Irvine Councilman Cameron Cosgrove emerged and said flatly: “Irvine is completely out of the picture as far as taking the development.”

So for Irvine Co. officials, it is back to the drawing board.

“I think that what it obviously means,” said Larry Thomas, an Irvine Co. spokesman, “is that we need to sit back down with officials of Laguna Beach to determine if they have any other alternatives that would satisfy them that we could consider.”

Just weeks ago, the proposal to move the development from Laguna Canyon into Irvine was heralded as a major breakthrough for opponents of the 2,150-acre project, which would include a golf course, a shopping center and a school, in addition to the 3,000 or so homes. Now, all sides agree, Irvine is out of the picture and there are no counteroffers on the table.

Yet opponents of the project played down the damage Wednesday, saying that the meeting was only another step in what is expected to be a lengthy negotiation process involving the two cities, the developer and the county. Pinning their hopes on an upcoming visit by Sen. Alan Cranston (D-Calif), Laguna Beach officials said they would explore the possibility of obtaining federal funds to purchase the canyon for open space.

“I think you have to see this as part of the overall negotiations,” said Elizabeth Brown, president of Laguna Greenbelt Inc., one of several environmental groups battling the project. “The Irvine Co. put some conditions on their offer that were impossible, and everyone knows they are impossible.

“People come to the negotiating table with certain positions. . . . What is important is the sincerity with which everyone approaches the discussions and, at this point, I don’t think any of the three parties is doing this just for fun.”

A Cranston aide in Washington said Wednesday that obtaining federal money to buy the canyon may be nearly impossible. Ten years ago, the senator introduced a $38-million bill that would have preserved the canyon area as part of a national park, but it died in committee.

“There just hasn’t been a lot of money in recent years in terms of land acquisition,” said Cranston aide Kathy Lacey. “For the whole nation, the federal government only designated $68 million, so as you can see, it’s not a top priority in the Administration’s mind.”

Irvine Co. officials who crafted the offer at the request of Laguna Beach expressed surprise at the outcome of Wednesday’s meeting. “The only indication we had was that Laguna Beach Mayor Lida Lenney had expressed on several occasions that the city of Irvine would be more receptive then it has been,” Irvine Co. spokesman Thomas said. “I would only say that we were surprised it was rejected out of hand with apparently no discussion.”

Thomas added that with the outcome of Wednesday’s meeting, the company will not pursue the Irvine option.

“Any alternative that would involve the city of Irvine would have to involve the elected leadership of that city,” Thomas said. “ . . . I think the door has been shut pretty firmly.”

Laguna Beach officials, who had urged their Irvine counterparts to support the proposal, said that they had not been aware that Irvine planning regulations would effectively require voter approval of a development of Laguna Laurel’s size.

“I’m disappointed,” Lenney said. “But I did not know before this meeting that the city of Irvine had a general plan amendment that has locked them in in such a way that they could not change without a vote of the people.”

About 16,000 acres of open space surrounds Irvine, including land in Bommer and Shady canyons on the southern edge of the community, which borders Laguna Canyon.

Irvine officials have ruled out locating the project in any of those areas.

“We have no place for 3,200 homes other than places currently set aside as open space, and there is no way we’re going to give that up,” Cosgrove said.

After the meeting, Irvine and Laguna Beach officials called for further discussions with the Irvine Co. and the county. “With the city of Irvine and the cooperation of the Irvine Co., they can bring the county to the table and there may be others that come in to help us, be they at the state level or in local jurisdictions,” said Laguna Beach City Councilman Robert F. Gentry. “We all need to work together to preserve one of the most precious resources in California,” he said, referring to Laguna Canyon.

Meanwhile, county officials, who have already granted tentative approval to the project, said that they have no plans to enter in the negotiations even though there is strong public interest in the issue. Protesters have doggedly picketed Irvine Co. chairman Donald Bren’s home and a protest march through Laguna Canyon drew an estimated 7,000 people. Last month, protesters were gearing up to appear at a County Planning Commission meeting on the development when the Irvine Co. requested a sudden postponement so that it could negotiate further with Laguna Beach officials.

“All of this energy should have been directed not only at the Irvine Co. but at the county before this thing became a reality,” said Orange County Board of Supervisors Chairman Thomas F. Riley. “I don’t see any discussions. I would probably go to the City Council if I were invited, but I’m not sure what our participation would be at the present time.”