LAGUNA BEACH : Water District Sues City for Sewer Access

The Irvine Ranch Water District is suing the city of Laguna Beach in an effort to gain access to a sewer line it claims it needs to serve a proposed housing development opposed by the city.

According to court records, the water district intends to use the power of eminent domain to gain part of the capacity of a Laguna Beach sewer line, which could be used to serve a 10-acre bluff-top parcel.

The property, known as Smithcliffs, is located on county land between the city of Laguna Beach and the unincorporated community of Emerald Bay. Brinderson Real Estate Group, the developer, intends to build 26 homes on the site.

“There is no precedent for this anywhere in the state for this kind of action,” Laguna Beach City Manager Kenneth C. Frank said Monday. “It does not serve the public. It serves one private property owner in a closed-gate community with private streets.”

City officials have long claimed that Laguna Beach would be hurt by the project and that development should not be allowed to proceed unless the land is annexed by Laguna Beach.

The developer, however, has rejected the city’s overtures and allowed the Irvine Ranch Water District to annex the land so it could provide the necessary sewer service. But the city has refused to let the district use the pipes to service the new development. Last week, the water district sued in Orange County Superior Court.

Ronald Young, general manager of the Irvine Ranch Water District, said Monday that the district should be able to use the sewer lines since it has already annexed the property.

“We believe that it is pretty clearly stated to be not only within our district but within our authority to provide the service,” Young said.

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

After a series of recent private meetings with the developer, Frank said Monday that he thought that they had come close to settling the dispute out of court. The latest lawsuit has thrown a wrench into those negotiations, Frank said, and the city now expects to go to court in January.