O.C. to Put Up $10 Million for Laguna Laurel Land

The Orange County Board of Supervisors agreed Tuesday to ante up $10 million over the next five years toward the rescue of one of the last undeveloped coastal canyon areas in Southern California.

The money represents only part of the anticipated purchase price for the environmentally sensitive Laguna Laurel area of Laguna Canyon--2,150 acres of picturesque hillsides and gullies north of downtown Laguna Beach along Laguna Canyon Road. The land is valued at $80 million to $100 million.

Laguna Beach officials and environmentalists praised the board’s action, calling it an important strategic victory in one of the county’s longest and most bitter development battles, against the Irvine Co.’s proposed 3,200-home Laguna Laurel project.

To keep purchase hopes alive, Laguna Beach residents must now approve a $20-million bond issue in November. City officials are confident it will pass, however.

“This contribution and this support on the part of the county takes our project out of the realm of a dream and makes it possible from our point of view,” said an elated Laguna Beach Mayor Lida Lenney. “The county’s contribution will make this a real solid goal.”

Over the last five years, the Laguna Laurel development project has been vigorously opposed by environmentalists and officials who want to keep the land, which borders Laguna Beach. Last fall, a protest march against the development drew 7,000 Southern California residents.

But development seemed a foregone conclusion until earlier this year, when the company suddenly announced that it was willing to sell the land to the public.

City officials, county officials, company executives and environmentalists are scheduled to meet privately Thursday to begin negotiating a firm price in the hopes of setting the land aside as permanent wilderness park.

Orange County Supervisor Thomas F. Riley, whose district includes Laguna Beach, presented the county contribution plan that was unanimously approved by fellow board members Tuesday. The board agreed in principal to spend $10 million toward purchase of Laguna Laurel--to be paid in installments over the next five years--and instructed the county staff to come back in 30 days with a schedule for shifting money from other park programs, primarily in Riley’s district.

Riley said Tuesday’s vote should quiet critics who have complained that county officials have not done enough to help save the land.

“I think some people have felt the county effort was not in their best interest,” Riley said. But, he continued, “we’re talking about an area we’ve always had an interest in.”

The board’s vote came at a critical time for city officials and environmentalists struggling to preserve the canyon.

On Thursday, an independent appraiser hired by the Irvine Co. is expected to privately submit findings on the precise value of the land to the Laguna Laurel Advisory Committee, a team of negotiators representing the company, the county, Laguna Beach and a coalition of environmentalists.

“I’m expecting a busy weekend of people talking to each other,” Laguna Greenbelt President Elisabeth Brown said. “I hope we can reach (an agreement) by early next week.”

Supervisor Don R. Roth cautioned, however, that the board’s vote Tuesday is only one step toward a resolution that is “contingent on a lot of things happening.”

First and foremost, the company and Laguna Beach must agree on a purchase price. City officials have said previously that they will pay no more than $50 million for the property, roughly half the county’s informal estimate.

Whatever the asking price, Laguna Beach residents will have to approve the bond issue on the Nov. 6 ballot in order for the purchase to have any chance of becoming reality. The measure must pass by a two-thirds vote. In a poll released in July, nearly three-fourths of the respondents said they would support the bond issue.

Laguna Beach is also expected to draw about $5 million from state grant funds available through Proposition 70, the wildlife, coastal and parkland conservation program. The Irvine Co., which has agreed to let the city buy the land in installments over 10 years, has also promised to contribute the final $10 million of the purchase price.

How the balance of the money could be raised would depend in part on the final price: Laguna officials say that if the price is low enough they might be able to raise the difference through private contributions. If the price is too high, however, the whole deal could fall through, the officials warn.

“A lot depends on (Irvine Co. chief executive officer) Donald Bren. He’s the one who owns the property and will set the price. We know he’s a very shrewd businessman,” Lenney said.

For their part, Irvine Co. executives said Tuesday that the appraisal to be submitted Thursday will be a serious starting point for a “workable” purchase plan. Company officials declined to comment on specifics of the negotiations.

“With that accomplished this week,” Irvine Co. Vice President Larry Thomas said, “it’s our hope and the hope of everyone that there can be agreement upon such a plan.”