County OKs Tollway Project Grading Permits : Transportation: Planning Commission vote comes day after court gave South County road green light.

Developers of a $778-million tollway designed to cut through Laguna Canyon survived their second challenge in as many days Thursday, winning approval for a grading permit on 20 acres of coastland.

The decision by the Orange County Planning Commission came a day after a Superior Court judge gave the go-ahead for the San Joaquin Hills tollway project. And it left the plan’s frustrated opponents pointing to the urgency of a rally this weekend in Laguna Canyon to protest the tollway.

“We need to wake people up,” Laguna Beach Councilwoman Lida Lenney said after the Planning Commission OKd the development permit.

Tollway agency officials, meanwhile, announced that--barring further legal difficulties--the road could be under construction in July. In addition, they suggested that the court victory Wednesday had dramatically bolstered the prospects of securing solid financing for the project.

At Thursday’s hearing before the Planning Commission, the tollway project met with traditional criticism from environmentalists who warned that it would pollute the environment, threaten scenic vistas and hurt wildlife.

But one local engineer also offered an argument less often heard in public debate on the issue: that the project would waste energy.

James J. Davison, an engineer in the private sector in Orange County for two decades, said the 6% grade of the tollway and its steep elevation would cause motorists to use 21% more fuel than travel on the San Diego Freeway and Interstate 5 and, more important, would preclude the future use of electric cars on the road.

“It’s just astounding that anyone would think about putting a commuter highway over a mountain,” he said. “It’s just incredibly bad.”

The six-lane tollway, first proposed in 1972, would run for 15 miles through Laguna Canyon, linking the Corona del Mar Freeway and Interstate 5. It is designed to reduce traffic in South County.

The coastal development permit approved Thursday clears the way for the Orange County Transportation Corridor Agencies, which is helping plan the road, to eventually move 360,000 cubic feet of earth and to grade up to 150 feet above the proposed roadway in about 20 acres off Sand Canyon Avenue.

Three weeks ago, tollway opponents won a reprieve on the grading issue when the Planning Commission listened to their concerns and then agreed to put off a scheduled vote.

But on Thursday, the decision was quick and decisive: by a 4-0 vote, the commission agreed to approve the permit.

Before moving for a vote, Commissioner Thomas Moody told opponents that he believed the issue before the commission was a narrow one and that there was no need to revisit the legitimacy of the tollway in its entirety.

“That’s been decided a long time ago,” he said. “That’s not really an issue that’s before this commission.”

And Commission Chairman Roger Slates said: “We can’t make everybody happy . . . (but) you’ve got your day in court.”

Lenney, disappointed but not surprised by the Planning Commission’s vote, said its approval was critical in paving the way for the tollway’s construction.

“These are the stones that, when put together, build this damn road,” she said of the decision.

She said opponents must do a better job of educating people about the tollway. Specifically, she contended that property owners may end up footing the bill for the massive project.

“People think developers are paying for this and that sounds good to John Q. Public,” she said. “That’s not the way it is.”

During a press conference Thursday, several of the tollway agency’s directors took opponents to task, saying they are wasting the public’s time.

“It’s unfortunate that the vocal minority can have such a tremendous impact on the majority of people in Orange County,” San Clemente Councilman Scott Diehl said.

Newport Beach Councilman John C. Cox Jr., chairman of the agency, expressed hope that the lawsuits “can be put behind us” and suggested that “at some point I think (litigation) becomes a disservice to the public.”

Irvine Mayor Sally Anne Sheridan, meanwhile, questioned the environmentalist credentials of tollway foes in Laguna Beach, the hotbed of opposition. Sheridan said she could feel more sympathy if the seaside hamlet didn’t have a tourism-based economy that draws “hundreds and hundreds” of diesel-guzzling buses.

“If they’re as environmentally sensitive as they say, I guess they would shut down the Festival of Arts” and other attractions, Sheridan said.