Ridgeline Protection an Urgent Concern : * New City of Laguna Niguel Moves to Guard the Sparse High Ground That Is Left

Laguna Niguel is one of Orange County’s newest cities, but it has a history of development that has alarmed officials and residents concerned about the fate of delicate hillsides and ridgelines. The city is so new that it has yet to put in place a General Plan, but it finds itself scrambling to protect the few remaining developable ridgeline areas from serious damage when new housing tracts go up.

Last month, the Planning Commission rejected a proposed ordinance on the ground that existing regulations were sufficient to protect undeveloped hills. But critics of that decision understandably wonder whether existing guidelines are good enough. Anyone who drives through Laguna Niguel can witness what the burst of housing development in recent years has done to transform hills and ridges into sprawling housing tracts. Whatever rules now apply may not necessarily go far enough.

The City Council understood this last month and asked the Planning Commission to reopen the issue. The move came not a moment too soon, as a tentative map for about 32 homes already has been submitted by a developer for a ridgeline property overlooking South Laguna.

If the city fails to come up with a rigorous-enough ridgeline ordinance, it may find itself trying to close a barn door after the horse has escaped. There simply isn’t that much ridgeline left in Laguna Niguel to matter, if development precedes an ordinance.

Some middle ground ought to be possible in the new round of discussions. The City Council refused to support a citizen-backed initiative that would have governed hillside development while barring construction within 300 feet of ridge tops. It decided that it almost certainly would be sued by affected landowners. But it seems clear that, contrary to the position taken by the Planning Commission, some kind of ridgeline-protection ordinance can be found to stand the test of court challenges.

The city has been working on the problem awhile now, and the depth of public sentiment for such protection is clear. After all, the initiative that the council turned down contained more than 4,000 signatures from residents urging their city either to adopt a tough measure or put it before the voters.

Moreover, a major argument for incorporation was to afford better local control over development. The City Council’s insistence on pursuing a ridgeline ordinance, despite the fact that previous attempts have come up empty, was consistent with that worthwhile goal.