LAGUNA BEACH : Sewer Service to Smithcliffs Blocked

Continuing a battle among Laguna Beach, the Irvine Ranch Water District and a land developer, the City Council this week blocked plans for a controversial bluff-top development by refusing to clear the way for sewer service to the project.

The council’s action Tuesday was the latest in a series of attempts by the city to thwart plans to build 26 homes at Smithcliffs, a 10.4-acre bluff-top parcel next to Laguna Beach.

The council has long maintained that the land should be annexed by Laguna Beach because the city would have to provide a variety of services for the new community. But the project’s developer, Brinderson Real Estate Group, rejected the city’s pleas and instead allowed the Irvine Ranch Water District to annex the land so it can provide the necessary sewer service.

But sewer lines leading to the property are owned by Laguna Beach, which has refused to let the water district use the pipes to service Smithcliffs. The council’s unanimous vote Tuesday was a stinging rejection of agreements drawn up between the county and several local water agencies that would have allowed the Irvine district to use the city’s sewer lines.

After the vote, Peer Swan, president of the Irvine Ranch Water District, said the council’s action was a “blatant misuse of public funds” because the city may now have to defend its decision in court.

“This city doesn’t believe in property rights,” Swan said. “They’ve just frittered away a little bit more taxpayers’ money.”

In February, the city filed suit against the county seeking to overturn a string of decisions by the Board of Supervisors, the Local Agency Formation Commission and the Irvine Ranch Water District that paved the way for the project.

City Manager Kenneth C. Frank said Laguna Beach filed suit because the city would have been forced to provide the development with police, fire and emergency medical services while being denied property tax revenues, which Frank said should be more than $100,000 a year.

“That’s what the city should get because we’re going to be stuck providing the services,” he said. “There’s no reason for the Irvine Ranch Water District to be involved in this project whatsoever.”

A spokesman for the project developer said earlier this week that a veto of the agreements by the City Council would not be a surprise and would not stop the project.

“The easiest way to proceed is to use the city’s sewer line,” Steven Fink said. “But it’s not the only way.”