LAGUNA BEACH : Eminent Domain Plan on City Agenda

City officials tonight will discuss asking the state for money to acquire the 200-acre DeWitt/Platz site in Laguna Canyon and 245 other acres, all by eminent domain.

Laguna Beach was allocated $10 million under the California Wildlife, Coastal and Park Land Conservation Act, which provides grants for acquisition of natural lands. Thus far, Laguna Beach has spent $3 million of that. Formal application is required to the state for the remaining funds.

John DeWitt, a San Gabriel Valley oil dealer, and Alice Platz of Arizona are co-owners of the property near Laguna Canyon and El Toro roads. The site was condemned by city officials last September after DeWitt refused the city’s offer of $1 million for the land.

DeWitt had also offered to donate more than 180 acres to the city in return for “acceptable development” of the lower 15 acres, a move city officials rejected.

“Our position hasn’t changed,” DeWitt said Monday. “It would seem to me a much more efficient use of (state) money to accept our offer. But the powerful interests that run the city think it’s better to take the property away by eminent domain, which to me is not a good use of dollars.”

Eminent domain is a process whereby public agencies may buy private property at fair market value without the owner’s consent. Fair market value, if disputed, is settled by the courts.

The action to acquire the DeWitt/Platz property has been filed in Superior Court by the city along with a $1-million deposit. The case is expected to go to trial this year, City Manager Kenneth C. Frank said.

“Our appraisal shows the property to be worth about $1 million,” Frank said. “I haven’t seen any formal appraisal” from DeWitt.

But DeWitt said he will ask $2.5 million for the parcel and added that he expects his own appraisal to be higher.

“We probably can’t fight the process” of eminent domain, DeWitt said. “It may not be ethical, but it’s legal. However, I do think my chances are very good to get the money (from the court) that I’m asking for.”

Other properties to be considered today for acquisition are the Cortese property, 9.3 acres surrounded by greenbelt on the corner of Laguna Canyon and El Toro roads, and the Esslinger Trust property, a 235-acre parcel in the Hobo Canyon area of South Laguna above the Laguna Terrace Trailer Park.

The Esslinger property is zoned for both residential and open space uses. The Cortese parcel is zoned for residential development. City officials declined to comment on the values of the parcels, and the owners could not be reached for comment Monday.

“It appears that in both cases, we don’t have willing sellers and we need to use eminent domain to move the process along,” Frank said.