LAGUNA BEACH : 74% Back Tax to Save Canyon, Poll Says

Nearly three-fourths of city voters support taxing themselves $150 a year to save Laguna Canyon from development, according to a poll released Monday.

The poll, conducted by Sacramento-based political polling firm J. Moore Methods, surveyed 300 “high-propensity voters” in Laguna Beach. The results, which have a margin of error of 6%, lend strong support for advocates of a November bond referendum intended to raise $20 million in the effort to buy and preserve the canyon.

Although only 57% of the respondents said early in the poll that they would favor a $20-million bond measure--under which they would pay $150 a year in higher taxes--after they heard arguments on both sides of the issue, 74% backed that option.

“I’m very happy about the results,” said Mayor Lida Lenney. “I certainly hope that the council will go ahead with a $20-million bond issue.”

The Laguna Canyon property is valued at about $100 million, but Lenney and others have said they hope the city can raise funds from other sources and that the company will accept an initial sum of money as a “down payment.”

The council meets tonight and is scheduled to discuss the bond measure, which requires a two-thirds vote for approval.

Unless the council can develop a plan for saving the canyon, the Irvine Co., which owns the land, intends to build homes on it. Irvine Co. executives are working with the city and other interested parties as part of the Laguna Laurel Advisory Group.

Monday, company vice president Carol Hoffman said in a statement that the “company will continue to be supportive of efforts to develop a realistic plan to achieve acquisition of our property.”