Plan for Laguna Wildlife Preserve May Fall Apart

The state is threatening to pull out of a $4-million deal to buy 82 acres of wilderness land in Laguna Canyon because the Irvine Co. has drawn up a 20-page list of conditions that officials say makes the land undesirable as an ecological reserve.

The dispute throws a monkey wrench into the plans to create a state wildlife sanctuary on the land, which would be part of a much bigger coastal park.

Laguna Beach earlier this year agreed to buy 2,150 acres of Laguna Canyon from the Irvine Co. for $78 million. In August, the California Wildlife Conservation Board agreed to buy 82 acres of that land from the city and put the money into escrow.

But in mid-October, a few days before the deal closed, the state agency was notified of deed restrictions that would allow the company to retain key rights to the property.

Among the conditions, the Irvine Co. would retain water rights, exert control over restoration and maintenance of the habitat and hold oil-drilling and mining rights, as well as rights to install utilities.

“This essentially would give them every right to the property. We would be the owner, but they would have rights to it,” said Larry Sitton, Southern California wildlife management supervisor at the California Department of Fish and Game, which advises the state board on land purchases.

Surprised by the conditions, state officials have said the terms are unacceptable and have put the purchase on hold while they negotiate with the Irvine Co. and the city of Laguna Beach.

Representatives of the Irvine Co., the largest private landowner in Orange County, said Wednesday that the conditions are standard in their land deals.

“The basic goal of the transaction was to take a very sensitive parcel of land and not to develop it but preserve it forever. We have a deal that will do that, and we feel the terms and conditions will assure that will happen,” said Irvine Co. spokesman Larry Thomas.

He said the company does not intend to reopen negotiations on the land.

The Fish and Game Department’s regional managers in Southern California called the conditions “unreasonable” in a strongly worded memo sent Friday to Fish and Game Director Pete Bontadelli in Sacramento.

The memo says that negotiations, led by the city of Laguna Beach, have reached an impasse and “on that basis we have spoken with Wildlife Conservation Board . . . and expressed our desire to cease acquisition activities.”

Laguna Beach Deputy City Manager Rob Clark said Wednesday he believes the differences can be worked out.

“The state’s concerns are legitimate,” Clark said. “So it’s incumbent on the city and the Irvine Co. to make sure everything is acceptable to them. . . . I believe they ultimately will be resolved.”

If an agreement cannot be reached, Clark said the city of Laguna Beach will have a serious financial problem because it bought the land from the Irvine Co. in April with the understanding that the state would reimburse it this year.