Laguna Niguel Finds Toll Road Review Inadequate : Transportation: The city is concerned that one of the proposed routes could destroy or harm many businesses.

Concerned that a proposed alignment for the San Joaquin Hills tollway would destroy or harm dozens of businesses, the City Council voted unanimously to declare the environmental review for the highway inadequate.

Although the action, taken Monday, is a departure for the city, which has staunchly supported the tollway, it does not necessarily mean that the city will vote against the project itself when the decisive votes are cast by members of the Orange County Transportation Corridor Agencies next month, City Manager Timothy J. Casey said.

Laguna Niguel’s concerns revolve around how the 17.5-mile roadway would be connected with Interstate 5.

One proposal would link the roads just south of Avery Parkway in San Juan Capistrano. A second would have the toll road meet the freeway just north of Avery in Laguna Niguel. That routing would force out about 15 businesses and would eliminate the main route to about 100 others. The result of that, Casey said, could be that Laguna Niguel would lose about $1 million a year in sales tax revenue, “a staggering figure for a brand-new city.”

William C. Woollett Jr., executive director of the Transportation Corridor Agencies, the joint-powers body overseeing tollway building in the county, told the council that his “tentative recommendation” would be for the first proposal.

If the second plan is approved, Mayor Patricia C. Bates, the city’s representative on the Transportation Corridor Agencies board, could vote against approval of the Environmental Impact Report while yet voting in favor of the project itself, Casey said.

Should the first plan be approved, however, neighboring San Juan Capistrano might try to stop the toll road, Mayor Kenneth E. Friess said. “If the first alignment is chosen, I think there’s a very good chance that the city of San Juan Capistrano may have to consider some kind of action to block the corridor,” he said.

San Juan Capistrano City Council members have also voted to express their dissatisfaction with the environmental impact report for the tollway. Council members said they will wait to see whether the tollway agency addresses their concerns about traffic, noise and other issues before deciding whether to overturn a 1985 vote favoring the toll road.

About 180 people attended the Laguna Niguel meeting Monday night. Most of the speakers, about half of whom were not Laguna Niguel residents, expressed their disapproval for the toll road project.

“How can the City Council publicly say by supporting Alignment 1 or 2 they are protecting the residents and businesses of this fair city?” asked Donna Martin of Laguna Niguel, who formed Residents Opposing the Toll Road. “Either way, Laguna Niguel loses.’

Other speakers, some of whom were affiliated with the businesses that would be affected by the second alignment plan, voiced support for the corridor and for the first alignment plan. Some carried signs saying “Save 400 Jobs” and “Save $82 Million,” a reference to the estimated difference in cost between the two plans.

Among the 15 businesses that would be affected are Costco, Allen Oldsmobile/Cadillac and Sepulveda Building Materials. The second alignment proposal would eliminate the main access to about 100 businesses on Camino Capistrano, a commercial strip along Interstate 5. The proposed replacement road would mean that customers would have to travel an extra mile to reach those businesses.

The Transportation Corridor Agencies board is scheduled to meet March 14 to decide whether to certify the environmental impact reports and to choose between the two design options. What is expected to be last public hearing on the corridor will be held Thursday at 9:30 a.m. at the police annex auditorium at Ross Street and Santa Ana Boulevard next to Santa Ana City Hall.