DANA POINT, LAGUNA NIGUEL : Coastal Strip Fight Enters Courtroom

The battle between Dana Point and Laguna Niguel over 1 1/2 miles of tax-rich coastline between them moved to the appellate court Thursday, with Laguna Niguel still fighting from a losing corner.

The strip has been given to Dana Point by the Orange County Local Agency Formation Commission after an advisory vote showed that a significant majority of residents preferred to be part of Dana Point when it was incorporated instead of the new city of Laguna Niguel.

Terry E. Dixon, attorney for a Laguna Niguel citizens group fighting the LAFCO decision, argued Thursday that LAFCO should have considered a wide range of economic factors and not just the vote of the people who live in the area. He also argued that Superior Court Judge William F. Rylaarsdam had not been given the entire record of LAFCO hearings on the issue before deciding recently to side with Dana Point.

Dixon said that more than just the people who live in the disputed coastline area are involved. The Ritz-Carlton Hotel is in the area, too, and its managers preferred Laguna Niguel, Dixon said. He added that the area has always been a part of the Laguna Niguel planned community.

On the Dana Point side, attorney Leonard A. Hampel, representing its citizens group, countered that it wasn’t until Laguna Niguel lost that its officials started complaining.

Laguna Niguel officials have argued that without the tax base derived from the Ritz-Carlton and a second planned resort hotel, the city will have to struggle to provide adequate services.

The 1,400 acres in dispute includes five subdivisions: Monarch Bay, Monarch Terrace, Monarch Beach, Emerald Ridge and Niguel Shores.

The justices usually reach a decision within 90 days of a hearing. However, each side has vowed to carry the fight to the state Supreme Court.