LAGUNA BEACH : Diamond/Crestview Lots Reduced to 153

The City Council unanimously approved an ordinance Tuesday night that will alter the potential growth of the city’s Diamond/Crestview district.

The ordinance will reduce the number of buildable lots in the district from 243 to 153, while decreasing potential density from nine units to 5.6 units per acre.

The measure is intended to preclude an eruption of development anticipated when court-ordered road improvements are made.

Councilwoman Martha Collison, who owns property in that community, abstained from the vote.

The 41-acre neighborhood, in the hills several miles south of the center of town, now has 50 homes. Many of the lots are now undevelopable because of substandard roads in the area.

Late last year, however, an appellate court ruled in favor of lot owners who want to build on the property, ordering the city to see that the roads are upgraded.

City Manager Kenneth C. Frank said the upgrades will probably cost more than $1 million.

Most residents of the district at the meeting appeared to favor the ordinance, which they say is better than the alternative. “There is no way these roads can handle 243 houses,” said Sally Wilde, president of the Upper Diamond Area Homeowners Assn. “It’s a physical impossibility.”

However, some lot owners who have tried to build on their land for 25 years called Tuesday’s action simply another stalling tactic by city officials.

“First one reason, then another, they wouldn’t let us build on them,” said Bruce Connell, a South Laguna resident who owns property in Diamond/Crestview. “They stall for 25 years. Now, they’ll find other ways to stall.”

The city merged lots in a similar way in the Arch Beach Heights community, Frank said.