LAGUNA HILLS : Leisure World Backs Canyon Campaign

More than 800 Leisure World residents have joined the campaign to keep the controversial Laguna Laurel housing development from being built, despite an earlier agreement that the retirement community would not officially oppose the project, community leaders said.

“I’ve never seen anything like it,” said Dave Blodgett, president of Leisure World Residents to Save the Canyon, which has recruited 824 members for Laguna Canyon Conservancy since August.

“There’s never been such a spontaneous response that I’ve seen in Leisure World. To get this many people to write out a check in a specific time to an organization that is headquartered in Laguna Beach is absolutely unprecedented.”

So far, Leisure World residents have contributed almost $12,000 to the conservancy, he said.

The Irvine Co. had planned to build Laguna Laurel, a 3,200-home project, along Laguna Canyon Road between El Toro Road and the San Diego Freeway. But on Oct. 7, Laguna Beach reached an agreement with the developer to buy 2,150 acres of the canyon for $78 million. The deal is contingent on voters’ approving a $20-million bond issue in the Nov. 6 election.

In June, the Irvine Co. gained a promise from the board of directors of the Golden Rain Foundation, Leisure World’s governing body, not to oppose the Laguna Laurel project in exchange for a commitment to deal with the traffic and environmental concerns of residents, said Alex Gunster, the board president.

Since then, the 15 board members have joined hundreds of other residents as members of the Laguna Canyon Conservancy, which was formed to oppose the development, Gunster said.

The board’s agreement was an official decision, he said; individual decisions to join the conservancy were a matter of personal choice.

“Even (Irvine Co. Chairman Donald) Bren himself is supporting this effort,” Gunster said. “This changes all the time, so what you have to do is roll with the punches.”

Irvine Co. Vice President Carol Hoffman said the developer sought the board’s agreement that it would not oppose the project in return for the company’s commitment to address the concerns of residents. Company officials realized, however, that individuals might want to “take part in the public process,” she said.

Residents of Leisure World and the Willows Foundation, a smaller retirement community within Leisure World’s gates, did indeed rally behind the city in its effort to stop the development, Blodgett said.

A major reason for opposition within Leisure World was that the Laguna Laurel project would extend Santa Maria Avenue to Laguna Canyon Road, Blodgett said. Santa Maria Avenue now runs through Leisure World and dead ends into Moulton Parkway.

The additional traffic would have been a safety hazard for the community of older residents, Blodgett said. The prospect “terrified Leisure Worlders,” he said.