THE TIMES POLL : Residents Split on Tax Hike to Shield Laguna Canyon

A proposal to raise taxes to buy 800 acres in the environmentally sensitive Laguna Canyon--thwarting plans for a 3,200-home development there--would run into trouble if put to a vote today, The Times Poll shows.

While several people said during interviews they are concerned about protecting virgin areas from development, the poll determined there is not overwhelming support for a $5 to $7 increase in property taxes to set aside a portion of Laguna Canyon for a county park.

At the request of Laguna Beach, the County Board of Supervisors is considering a $100-million bond issue to preserve the lush hills and ridges that make up Laguna Canyon. The move is the latest in a series of efforts by Laguna Beach to block the Irvine Co.’s proposal for a massive planned community amid the gentle slopes.

To pass, a bond issue would require approval by two-thirds of county residents casting ballots in the November election.

However, the poll found that just 48% of Orange County residents favor higher taxes to finance the purchase of Laguna Canyon, while those opposed to the tax numbered 43%--a split too narrow to be statistically significant.

The Times Poll, conducted by I.A. Lewis, tested a representative sampling of 612 county residents earlier this month. The margin of error was plus-or-minus 5%.

The poll found that upscale residents were far more likely than lower-income residents to favor such a tax increase. Upscale respondents--defined by the pollsters as having better jobs and higher income and education levels--favored the tax 64% to 30%, a better than 2-to-1 margin. Conversely, those classified as “downscale” opposed it 58% to 28%, nearly the same margin. Those in the middle were more evenly split.

County officials say the poll shows that for a bond issue to pass, an intensive effort to educate the public will be needed.

“Let’s face it. There are a lot of people who don’t even know where Laguna Canyon is,” said Tom Mathews, executive assistant for Supervisor Thomas F. Riley. “I think everyone realizes that this is an uphill task.”

County officials are studying the cost of placing the issue on the November ballot. They are expected to report their findings to the Board of Supervisors in 60 days.

For more than a decade, there has been mounting opposition to the Irvine Co.’s Laguna Laurel proposal, a planned community that would include a golf course, school and a fire station. At issue is whether the development would destroy a treasured expanse of pristine open space in Orange County. Laguna Beach residents fear the development would cause flooding and other environmental headaches, and bring thousands more unwanted cars through their city each day.

Supervisors approved the development agreement with the Irvine Co. two years ago. Since then, however, environmentalists have turned up the heat, picketing Irvine Co. Chairman Donald Bren’s home and staging a protest march in Laguna Canyon last November that drew more than 7,000. The furor over the project eventually led to negotiations between Laguna Beach and the Irvine Co. over the future of the land. The company recently agreed to postpone its plans to allow county officials time to explore the possibility of a bond issue to buy the land.

Observers on both sides say a bond issue may be the last chance for environmentalists to save the canyon from development. Yet, while residents countywide are tired of watching trees and hillsides get swallowed up by housing projects, many are ambivalent about the county raising taxes to buy open space.

“I’d like to see the Laguna Canyon area stay as nice as it is,” said Cheryl Armenti, 27, a Brea resident who participated in the poll. “But I’m not too much for taxes going up. Once they (supervisors) see they can get away with it, they would probably keep raising them.”

Susan Pinkus, assistant director of the poll, said that a nearly 50-50 “split suggests that since the results are not statistically significant, it could go either way.”

Irvine Co. officials agree it is too early to predict the outcome of a ballot measure. “The numbers suggest that the proposal being considered is in the realm of possibility and that there is sufficient interest to warrant taking it to the ballot,” Irvine Co. spokesman Larry Thomas said. “But I think you can only generalize that if it (the poll) is representative, roughly half of the county at least would be inclined to vote for it.”

Environmentalists, however, said they are discouraged by the poll results. “At first blush, it is disappointing,” said Eugene Felder, vice president of the Laguna Canyon Conservancy. “Unfortunately, a bond issue requires a two-thirds majority so we’ve got a lot of educating to do.”

Laguna Beach Mayor Lida Lenney agrees: “We need 66%, so this is not good,” she said. “What we’ve got to do is get out and persuade people.”

Generally, Pinkus said, residents in surrounding communities tended to be more supportive of a bond issue than those living farther from the project.

South County residents favored the tax 57% to 36%, while in the more heavily populated north, respondents were evenly split, according to the poll.

“I would just rather see the greenery or the strawberry fields or whatever,” said Elaine Carver, 33, a credit and collection representative from Newport Beach. “We already have tons of buildings and tons of cars and we’re getting too overcrowded.”

But even in the North County, 30% said they strongly favor the tax to preserve Laguna Canyon, with another 16% mildly supportive. Betty Beshears, 62, a retired insurance agent from Huntington Beach, said even though she lives miles from Laguna Canyon, she favors the proposed tax. “We need some open country around here,” she said. “It’s getting to where you can’t go anywhere any more without seeing houses and apartments.”

LAGUNA LAUREL TAX

In a poll, 612 Orange County residents were asked whether they would favor or oppose having the county buy Laguna Canyon land owned by the Irvine Co. if the purchase would mean a property tax increase of $5 to $7 a year. The county would buy the land to preserve it as open space.

NORTH COUNTY RESIDENTS: Favor: 45% Oppose: 45%

SOUTH COUNTY RESIDENTS: Favor: 57% Oppose: 36%

Source: Los Angeles Times Poll