LAGUNA BEACH : State Court Delays Laguna Laurel Case

Claiming it did not want to influence ongoing negotiations or a November ballot proposition concerning Laguna Canyon, a state Court of Appeal panel in Santa Ana postponed until January a case challenging the proposed Laguna Laurel development.

Two environmental groups, Laguna Greenbelt Inc. and Laguna Canyon Conservancy, are appealing an earlier Superior Court ruling upholding the development agreement between Orange County and the Irvine Co. The groups maintain that the county did not follow proper procedure when it approved the 1988 agreement allowing for the construction of 3,200 homes on 2,150 acres of canyon land.

In calling for the postponement, Associate Justice Thomas F. Crosby Jr. of the Fourth Appellate District said he did not want the court’s discussions to influence ongoing talks between the developer and Laguna Beach officials and environmentalists. Negotiators are attempting to work out a plan that would allow the city to buy the property from the developer.

An independent land appraiser hired by all parties involved in the negotiations is expected to submit to negotiators today his estimate of the land’s value, and the council will meet Friday to discuss it.

“This is a very sensitive issue, and it appears there’s going to be plenty of time to hear it,” Crosby said during the hearing.

Laguna Beach residents will decide Nov. 6 whether to issue $20 million in bonds that would be applied to the purchase price of the property, previously estimated at $80 million to $100 million.