LAGUNA BEACH : City Refuses to Fund Protest of Tollway

The City Council endorsed but declined to help finance a rally intended to rivet attention on Laguna Canyon, which environmentalists say is threatened this year by groundbreaking for the San Joaquin Hills toll road.

“This is the year we have to start thinking the unthinkable,” said Michael Phillips, executive director of the Laguna Canyon Conservancy, as he made a plea for $2,000 to help pay for Toll Road Awareness Day.

While the city has strongly opposed the tollway, council members decided that the rally’s promoters should raise the money independently of the city, which is trying to buy 2,100 acres in the canyon to save as open space.

“We send this group away with all our support and a pat on the back--but no cash,” Mayor Robert F. Gentry said.

While the city will not provide buses to transport residents to the rally site, council members did agree to provide in-kind services for the event, which could include police patrols, portable toilets and help with cleaning up.

The vote was unanimous to provide in-kind services, but there was no official vote to approve or deny the money for the rally, although that is what rally organizers requested.

Phillips said the lack of funds from the city would not put a damper on the event, scheduled Feb. 29 at Sycamore Flats, a clearing in Laguna Canyon just east of El Toro Road.

“We came for the money because we knew an event like this could cause traffic problems, and we were trying to help alleviate those,” Phillips said. “Maybe people will end up marching along Laguna Canyon Road and closing it down, it’s hard to tell.”

In November, 1989, about 7,500 people from throughout the county converged on the canyon to protest development. That rally helped pressure the Irvine Co. to sell the city the 2,100 canyon acres, once targeted for a housing development. As part of the purchase agreement, the city agreed not to sue to block the tollway.