LAGUNA BEACH : County to Consider Smithcliffs Project

The County Planning Commission is scheduled today to consider approving a new development on property known as Smithcliffs, a 10-acre parcel on a coastal strip next to Laguna Beach.

Plans to build 26 homes on the land have drawn opposition from the city, nearby residents and environmentalists concerned about the monarch butterfly, which roosts each winter on the property.

The commission will consider two plans, one with a street near Laguna Beach homes at the south end of the Smithcliffs property and one without.

The property, which is sandwiched between Laguna Beach and the unincorporated Emerald Bay community, is governed by the Emerald Bay Local Coastal Program, which was certified last year by the California Coastal Commission. The commission requires creation of a bluff-top viewpoint park as part of the development project.

Laguna Beach residents whose homes would be next to a street leading to the coastal park have asked that it be moved or eliminated. At a hearing earlier this month, commissioners suggested a compromise in which the developer would pay a fee to provide an alternate coastal access point for the public. A plan without coastal access would have to be approved by the Coastal Commission.

However, planner Ron Tippets said Friday that Coastal Commission officials have not been receptive to plans without coastal access. As a result, the county planning staff is recommending approval of one of the two plans, both of which provide a public bluff-top viewpoint and pedestrian access.

The Planning Commission must also decide whether to certify environmental reports that accompany the project. Most of the 45 letters the county received in response to environmental impact statements complained that roosts for the monarch butterfly would be disturbed if trees are uprooted to make way for homes.

David Neish, a representative for developer Gary Brinderson, whose Brinderson Real Estate Group owns the Smithcliffs property, told commissioners that “the monarch is not an environmental issue at this point” because it is not a rare or endangered species protected by the state.

The Planning Commission meeting will begin at 1:30 p.m.