California IN BRIEF : LAGUNA BEACH : Developer, City OK Canyon Land Deal

The city of Laguna Beach and the Irvine Co., a major Orange County developer, have completed a legal agreement that allows the city to begin buying 2,150 acres of Laguna Canyon for preservation as a park. The agreement, scheduled to go before the Laguna Beach City Council next week, would set in motion the preservation plan for one of the last undeveloped coastal canyons in Southern California. The proposal is based on the agreement-in-principle reached last October by the city, the company, environmental groups and Orange County officials. In a related plan still subject to approval by the Orange County Board of Supervisors and other governmental agencies, the county will contribute $10 million toward the $78-million purchase price for the land known as Laguna Laurel. The county also will receive part ownership of the land and manage what could become a new 15,000-acre wilderness park that would include Laguna Laurel.