DANA POINT : Planning Panel OKs Golf Clubhouse

The golf course clubhouse for the Monarch Beach Resort--to some, the most controversial part of the 225-acre project--was approved by the Planning Commission this week as the resort won its final city permits.

The commission voted 4 to 1 Tuesday night to give Japan-based Nippon Shinpan Co. Ltd. the rights to build a 45-foot-tall, 30,000-square-foot clubhouse topped by a 16-foot tower, despite pleas from neighbors to reduce the height. At the same time, the commission approved permits for 152 units of attached housing and a 4,000-square-foot public beach house.

The next stop for the $500-million luxury resort is scrutiny by the California Coastal Commission, expected to come in August.

“Public access and public uses of the resort is what the Coastal Commission looks at,” said Ed Knight, the city’s director of community development. “The commission also delves into environmental issues, although we don’t have those to a great extent here.”

For residents of the neighboring Corniche-sur-Mer housing tract, however, the clubhouse’s impact on their coastal views was the chief concern this week. Several members of the neighborhood pleaded with the commissioners to scale down the structure.

“We, the residents of Corniche, paid substantial prices for our views,” said Irving Kaplan. “It costs us about $2,000 a year in extra taxes just for the view. I think we are entitled to a little consideration.”

Said another resident, Stephanie Zydel: “I don’t see why a clubhouse has to be 30,000 square feet. I really feel it will be a detriment to Dana Point.”

Planning Commissioner William Ossenmacher cast the lone dissenting vote.

“I think it’s a real shame the people of Corniche-sur-Mer were not brought into the process earlier. These things could have been worked out,” Ossenmacher said. “The issues here are too great to be swept under the rug.”

But the commission majority said that while the views would be impacted, they would not be destroyed.

“Somehow you’ve got the picture in your mind that you’re losing what you’re not,” said Chairwoman Lynn Dawson. “You will not lose your whole view of the coast, I’m certain of that.”

The commission vote ends about 10 months of city approvals for the resort, Knight said. While the developers still must submit studies on such things as materials, fencing and a public arts program for the resort, “the main layout and the vast majority of the project planning is finished,” Knight said.