LAGUNA HILLS : Oso Parkway Stretch Gets Its Name Back

Unable to find any evidence that the city abused its authority, a Superior Court judge has ruled that officials can go ahead with plans to change the name of a stretch of Pacific Park Drive back to Oso Parkway.

Laguna Hills city leaders successfully argued that restoring the name--approved in late April--was important to retaining the city’s historical identity. Except for a few streets, most are named after local pioneers or reflect the Spanish heritage of the region.

Members of a year-old organization of businesses in Aliso Viejo’s 1,200-acre Pacific Park commercial center had tried to thwart the city’s plans. Calling themselves the Pacific Park Alliance, the business owners filed a lawsuit two weeks ago saying that the name change would hurt their business. They also argued that the new street name would destroy the sense of community identity which they have sought to foster over the last six years.

In 1986, at the request of the Mission Viejo Co., Oso Parkway was changed to Pacific Park Drive within what are now Laguna Hills city limits between Interstate 5 and Moulton Parkway. At that time, Laguna Hills was still an unincorporated area.

In the lawsuit, the Pacific Park Alliance accused the city of changing the street name again merely to “spite and harm” the Mission Viejo Co., the developer of Aliso Viejo and Pacific Park. Laguna Hills officials are involved in a dispute with the company and Mission Viejo over the development of a parcel of land near Interstate 5.

City officials have labeled that allegation “ridiculous.”

“The suit obviously had no merit,” said Donald White, Laguna Hills administrative services director. “We were within our rights as a city to change the name.”

Following an hourlong hearing last week, Judge James L. Smith said city officials met the necessary legal requirements to change the street name, no matter what their motivations for the change might have been.

Laguna Hills City Atty. Lois Jeffrey said signs bearing the new name will go up “right away.”