Laguna Council Agrees to Buy Pristine Canyon : Conservation: The $78-million purchase of 2,150 acres will end the Irvine Co.’s plans to develop the site.

After several days of intense negotiations and soul-searching, the Laguna Beach City Council voted unanimously Sunday to buy 2,150 acres in Laguna Canyon for $78 million and commit the city to an unprecedented land conservation plan that protects Southern California’s last undeveloped coastal canyon.

By agreeing to purchase the Laguna Laurel tract from the Irvine Co. over a five-year period, the city is effectively ending the proposed 3,200-unit development in order to preserve the canyon as open space.

The project, which is in an unincorporated area just north of the city, was approved by the county Board of Supervisors in 1984.

The purchase “was not an easy decision because it represents a serious commitment on the part of the people of the city and the people of the county to come up with a significant amount of money,” Mayor Lida Lenney said. “But the feeling of the council is that this property is worth it, and we very much appreciate the kind of help we had from the Irvine Co. in reaching this kind of agreement, and we are ready to move forward.”

The anchor for the city’s purchase plan is Measure H, a $20-million bond measure on the Nov. 6 ballot that will require the approval of two-thirds of Laguna Beach voters. Although citizens have previously demonstrated their strong sentiments in favor of saving the canyon from development, city officials have been hard-pressed to come up with a financing plan that would meet voters’ scrutiny.

“I do not know of any city that has taken on the responsibility of using its good faith and credit to purchase open space,” Irvine Co. Senior Vice President Gary Hunt said after the final negotiating session Sunday. “There’s no question in my mind that this is a milestone.”

Paul Freeman, who was hired by both sides to forge a compromise, said the pact is also “a milestone in terms of dispute resolution involving historically contentious interests.”

Environmentalists bitterly battled the company for more than a decade to protect the pristine landscape of rolling pasture, rugged cliffs and increasingly rare coastal sage habitat that is home to many threatened wildlife species.

Celebrities such as Bette Midler and Julie Harris joined the effort to save the canyon, and local artists held “paint-ins” to protest planned destruction of the scenery. Others volunteered as body blocks to bulldozers.

In a show of solidarity last November, more than 7,000 placard-carrying protesters--estimates range as high as 8,500--converged on winding Laguna Canyon Road to denounce the Irvine Co. and its proposed development.

“It was a win-win for everybody,” Carolyn Wood, president of the Laguna Canyon Conservancy, said after Sunday’s final negotiating session.

Although a tentative agreement had been reached last week by the Laguna Laurel Advisory Group--which represents the city, the developer and environmentalists--tempers flared later when the city pressed for more concessions.

Officials said delicate negotiations during the final 48 hours of talks helped seal the agreement that was unanimously approved during a special closed-door session of the council and immediately ratified by the negotiating team. Freeman credited Councilman Robert F. Gentry with finding the middle ground during those final sessions between the city and the company.

The advisory group’s meeting was closed to the public, but loud applause was heard at the end of the one-hour session, signaling to outsiders that an agreement had been reached.

The final pact is similar to the agreement hammered out by the advisory group last Tuesday. The $78-million price tag for the land, which was independently appraised at $105 million, remained unchanged. The five-year payment schedule of $33 million, $3 million, $4 million, $5 million and $33 million--with the first payment due next June--also remained unchanged.

However, an added feature gives the city the option of paying up to $40 million in the first year in order to purchase all of the Laguna Laurel property on the west side of Laguna Canyon Road, or slightly more than 90% of the project site, which includes some of the most environmentally sensitive land.

Once the city’s payments reach $45 million, it will also acquire the property’s three lakes--the only natural lakes in Orange County.

If the city defaults on its payments, the company will have the right to resume its development plans.

One point that threatened to unravel the agreement late last week was a demand by the company that the city immediately give up its right to sue or officially oppose the project if default occurs.

In the final agreement, the city does not give up its right to oppose the Laguna Laurel project until after the Nov. 6 election when voters decide the fate of Measure H.

A lawsuit filed by two environmental groups involved in the talks--Laguna Greenbelt Inc. and Laguna Canyon Conservancy--also will not be dismissed until the city makes its first payment next June.

Irvine Co. officials also agreed to extend from five years to seven years an option for the city to purchase about 73 acres of canyon land that is not part of the Laguna Laurel development site.

In addition to the $20 million in Measure H, Lenney and Gentry said the first payment was expected to be met by using $4 million of state parkland bond money already appropriated to the city, and the first $2-million installment of a $10-million donation pledged by the Board of Supervisors.

An additional $5 million is expected to be raised by the sale of city bonds backed by parking meter revenues, officials said.

Although that would still leave the city looking for $2 million to meet the first installment, private fund-raisers and other state parks grants are expected to make up the difference, Lenney and Gentry said.

They seemed less concerned about meeting the payments beyond the first year, particularly since the county’s $2-million yearly installments will make up significant portions of the amounts due in the second, third and fourth years of the agreement.

“Five years down the line is a long way,” Lenney said about the final $33-million payment.

In addition to offering a sales price below fair-market value, the Irvine Co. agreed to pick up $30.2 million in costs it may be required to pay as part of its development agreement with the county. Although no development will occur, the county is expected to press the company for transportation improvements through the canyon that were part of their agreement.

If any of those funding requirements are removed by the county, the company has agreed to subtract that amount from the city’s final payment.

Negotiators, obviously jubilant after the agreement was announced, said they planned to celebrate this evening at the Hotel Laguna, where a previously scheduled campaign fund-raiser for Measure H will be held.

LANDMARK AGREEMENT

The following are some details of the final agreement reached Sunday between Laguna Beach and the Irvine Co. over purchase of 2,150 acres in Laguna Canyon:

The plan calls for the city to pay at least $33 million by June 30, 1991. That payment would buy 85% of the land, including most of the environmentally sensitive property located on the west side of Laguna Canyon Road.

The city has the option of paying $40 million in the first year to buy the entire west side of Laguna Canyon Road, or 90% of the property.

If the city defaults on its payments, the company has the right to resume its development plan.

The city also has a seven-year option to purchase other canyon land not included in the Laguna Laurel project site.

MILESTONES IN LAGUNA LAUREL PROJECT

1979--The Irvine Co. proposes a Laguna Canyon development that would have 1,465 housing units on 1,300 acres.

1980--Environmentalists lobby to turn Laguna Canyon into a national park, thereby blocking development. The bill by Sen. Alan Cranston (D-Calif.) is defeated in Congress.

Sept. 22, 1982--The Irvine Co. proposes to more than double the number of homes in an expanded Laguna Canyon development. The plan adds 65% more acreage and straddles Laguna Canyon Road. It calls for 3,600 homes on 2,150 acres, a shopping and commercial center, a school and widening of Laguna Canyon Road. About 1,300 acres are intended for open space or recreation, including an 18-hole private golf course and a system of three lakes to be donated for a county regional park. Opponents complain about the added traffic the development would bring and cite the potential for flooding and other environmental problems.

1984--The Board of Supervisors gives preliminary approval to the Laguna Laurel plans. Final approval awaits public hearings and an environmental impact report.

1986--Responding to community concerns, the Irvine Co. wins county approval to move the housing units closer to the San Diego Freeway end of the development. About 1,100 acres would now become open space.

December, 1987--Continued dissatisfaction with the Irvine Co. project prompts Laguna Beach City Councilwoman Lida Lenney and four others to launch the Laguna Canyon Conservancy to fight for preservation.

April, 1988--The Board of Supervisors votes 3 to 2 for the controversial Laguna Laurel development agreement. Slow-growth advocates target Supervisors Thomas F. Riley and Harriett M. Wieder for recall. The recall effort fails.

September, 1989--Dozens of Laguna Laurel opponents picket Irvine Co. Chairman Donald L. Bren’s Newport Beach home. They say the company has not taken seriously the public opposition.

October, 1989--Bren offers to sell 276 acres of the 2,150-acre project area to Laguna Beach for $38 million. The land is the site of a controversial private golf course. In early November, the city rejects the proposal, which would have required the city to accept the rest of the project and the San Joaquin Hills Transportation Corridor.

Nov. 12, 1989--More than 7,000 placard-carrying demonstrators march up Laguna Canyon Road in protest of the Laguna Laurel development.

Nov. 29, 1989--The Irvine Co. stuns opponents with an offer to swap the Laguna Canyon parcel for land suitable for the project in neighboring Irvine. The Irvine council rejects the proposal 13 days later.

Dec. 29, 1989--The Irvine Co. freezes plans for the Laguna Laurel project pending negotiations with the city to buy the land.

Aug. 7, 1990--Laguna Beach city council votes unanimously to place a $20-million Laguna Canyon bond issue on the ballot while sale negotiations continue with the Irvine Co. Two-thirds voter approval is required.

Sept. 18, 1990--County supervisors agree to put up $10 million over the next five years to help buy and preserve the Laguna Laurel area of Laguna Canyon.

Oct. 2, 1990--The Irvine Co., environmentalists and Laguna Beach officials reach an “agreement in principle” to sell the 2,150-acre Laguna Laurel parcel to the city for $78 million.