Public Lost Land but Staff Can’t Recall How : Investigation: Laguna Niguel officials learned that not only were 96 acres of future park signed away to a developer but the city hasn’t gained title to 8 acres it was supposed to have.

In February, 1988, Laguna Niguel officials sat down with a developer to swap some land for the public good: The developer was to give up eight scenic acres of open space and in return Laguna Niguel was to give up three acres of slopes.

Last week, the officials were dismayed to learn that they had actually given up not three acres but 96 that were supposed to have been reserved for future parkland.

On Thursday, insult was added to the injury when county officials revealed that Laguna Niguel has never legally taken title to the eight acres it initially sought: For more than two years, the deed from the developer, Taylor Woodrow Homes California Ltd., has not been recorded on the public record by Laguna Niguel officials.

“I can’t honestly conceive of this happening,” said a dismayed Nancy Lewis, a former director of the Community Service District that oversaw parkland before Laguna Niguel incorporated as a city earlier this year. “What is this, a comedy of errors? Things like this should not happen and it is clearly something that the staff should have done.”

The controversial land transaction that gave Taylor Woodrow ownership of the 96 acres along the Salt Creek Corridor Regional Park is now the focus of a criminal investigation by the Orange County district attorney. The property has become part of the Marina Hills planned community and holds 100 houses and foundations for 77 more.

Laguna Niguel Councilman James F. Krembas said last week that he unwittingly relinquished the public’s right to the 96 acres when he signed the deed to Taylor Woodrow. He said he had the mistaken belief that he was only giving up three acres and getting the eight in return.

Krembas is a key figure in the investigation in part because his wife went to work for the developer three months after the transaction.

But both Krembas and Taylor Woodrow officials have denied any impropriety. In fact, Taylor Woodrow executives had said the 96-acre transaction was done with the approval of the County Planning Commission and the Board of Supervisors.

Harold I. Scott, chief engineer of the county’s right-of-way department, said his staff was researching the ownership of some adjoining property earlier this year when they discovered that the eight acres had never been formally transferred to Laguna Niguel.

It was not until a county engineer went out to survey the property, however, that the department discovered that homes had been built on the adjacent 96 acres that had been irrevocably dedicated to the public as open space in 1985.

“That blew our mind,” Scott recalled Thursday. “Something didn’t look right, at least from our part of town.”

The deeds giving Taylor Woodrow title to the Laguna Niguel property were executed by Krembas, then vice president of the CSD, on Feb. 12, 1988. Four days later they were officially filed with the county recorder.

The deed giving Laguna Niguel the eight acres, in contrast, were executed by Taylor Woodrow on Jan. 22, 1988. It was sent the following week to James S. Mocalis, then chief executive of the CSD, according to correspondence released to The Times. But it was never filed with the recorder.

“Frankly, I’m getting pretty tired of this,” Laguna Niguel City Atty. Terry Dixon said Thursday. Dixon was instructed by the City Council this week to begin legal action against Taylor Woodrow and assist in an internal investigation of the CSD staff’s role in the land transactions.

“I think it’s fairly clear that what was required was the transfer of three acres for eight acres and there should have been a deed from Taylor Woodrow and it should have been recorded,” Dixon continued. He added that the latest revelations are “unfortunately fairly consistent” with the troubling developments of the past week.

Krembas, who did not return calls for comment Thursday, complained earlier this week that Mocalis had failed to adequately brief him on the 96-acre deed that both he and Mocalis signed.

In an interview Thursday, Mocalis said he remembered signing the deed that transferred the three acres of public land to Taylor Woodrow but had “no independent recollection” of receiving from the developer the eight-acre deed that was to be part of the exchange.

“I really couldn’t tell you why it wasn’t recorded,” Mocalis said. “I imagine it was an oversight.”

James S. Okazaki, who was the CSD attorney at the time of the transfer, also said he could not recall the eight-acre deed or have any explanation for why it had not have been recorded. Okazaki’s actions while serving as the board’s attorney are also part of the investigation ordered this week by the council.

Richard Hunsaker, the site plan engineer for Taylor Woodrow who forwarded the deed to Mocalis, said he had “no idea” why it was not recorded.

“We expected they would do it,” Hunsaker said. “We did everything we could to fulfill Taylor Woodrow’s responsibilities. . . .”

Former CSD member James Smith, who is now an executive with R.B. McComic, a development firm in Monarch Beach, was also surprised to learn that the deed from Taylor Woodrow had never been recorded.

“I don’t recall any discussion that would have led the CSD (staff) not to record the deed,” Smith said. “The story goes on, doesn’t it?”

Laguna Niguel Councilman Paul M. Christiansen, who also served on the CSD, expressed outrage.

“Not only have we been snookered on the entire 96 acres of open space but on top of that we never got the so-called benefit of the bargain of the eight acres,” Christiansen said. “It is the most compounded, outrageous behavior on the part of the parties responsible. It appears that all of the highly placed and well-paid professionals have amnesia when it comes to their duties and responsibilities to the government.”

LAND TRANSACTION UNDER INVESTIGATION

1. Laguna Niguel officials say they gave a developer 96 acres of open space along Niguel Road in l988 when they meant to give only 3 north of the Salt Creek Corridor Regional Park

2. And for two years officials have failed to record title to 8 acres in between that were given in return by the developer for parkland.