COUNTY ELECTIONS MEASURE H : Laguna Takes First Step to Save Canyon : Voters approve a $20-million ‘down payment,’ but the road to complete ownership stretches ahead for five years.

By a margin that surprised even the most ardent supporters of preserving Laguna Canyon, residents of this coastal village approved a $20-million bond measure to help buy canyon land, thus holding back massive residential and commercial development on its pristine hillsides.

Now the hard work begins.

Campaign and city officials celebrated Wednesday after nearly 80% of those who voted in Tuesday’s election agreed to tax themselves to turn the land into a wilderness park.

But officials also acknowledged that getting Measure H passed may have been the easiest part of the plan to keep the canyon in its natural state.

The election started the clock on the city’s attempt to finance, over the next five years, its $78-million acquisition of the 2,150 acres of canyon land scheduled for development by the Irvine Co.

City officials said Wednesday that they remain optimistic that the rest of the money will be found from government and nonprofit agencies, even though statewide environmental proposals were defeated Tuesday, including one that Laguna Beach was eyeing as a potential source of money.

Pointing to the strong voter sentiment for the canyon, Mayor Lida Lenney said she would resurrect the idea of a countywide bond measure to help preserve the canyon.

“Maybe it (open space measure) means more to people when they can point to what it is they are buying,” she offered as an explanation for the strong support for saving Laguna Canyon while other propositions failed in Tuesday’s balloting.

A private poll commissioned to gauge countywide support for purchasing open space last June found 55% of the voters supporting a property tax increase to save Laguna Canyon. But that fell short of the two-thirds majority that would be required.

County Supervisor Thomas F. Riley vowed to help get the issue placed on a countywide ballot but said he doubted that it would win because North County residents would not see the benefits.

In order to meet its first payment next June totaling $33 million, the city will use the $20 million from Measure H, $4 million of state parkland bond money already appropriated to the city and a $5-million bond sale backed by parking meter revenues.

Officials are also expecting the County Board of Supervisors to keep its pledge to donate $2 million annually for five years.

Beyond that, funding sources are less certain.

“This vote means that we have five years to raise the money, and I think it’s achievable,” said Paul Freeman, manager of the Committee to Save the Canyon. Freeman predicted that environmentalists, the city and the Irvine Co. would be a potent lobbying force at the statewide level.

Freeman pointed to nearly $1 billion in state grants already available, although state officials have cautioned against counting on that money, given the stiff statewide competition for open space funds.

The buyout agreement between the city and the Irvine Co. allows the developer to resume building if the city defaults on its payments, with the promise not to challenge any future development if the bond measure was approved.

Other issues also must be settled in the coming weeks--whether the city will attempt to legally block construction of the San Joaquin Hills Transportation Corridor planned along the southern edge of the property, and whether the county or state will manage the parkland once it is acquired by the city.

The toll road may be a difficult issue for the city. It officially has opposed the project but could risk losing the county’s $10-million donation if it sues the county to stop the road. Riley said the condition not to sue would be attached to the county’s donation when the board votes in about two weeks.

However, City Councilman Robert F. Gentry said the overwhelming support for the bond measure sent him a clear message that voters are concerned about preserving the entire canyon, “including the area designated for the toll road.” A public hearing on environmental issues concerning the toll road is scheduled for Wednesday.

Also remaining to be resolved is a lawsuit filed by Laguna Greenbelt Inc. and Laguna Canyon Conservancy that challenges the development agreement between the company and the county, which will not be dismissed until the city makes its first payment next June. A meeting scheduled for today before the state Court of Appeal in Santa Ana where the case is pending was expected to be canceled.

Environmentalists and representatives of the city, county and Irvine Co. are expected to meet within the next 10 days to begin resolving some of these issues, Freeman said.

MORE COVERAGE

More O.C. results on A1, A3, A24-25, A33-34 and B2-3