Developers Will Redesign Rejected Coastline Project : Rancho Palos Verdes: Planners to try again after state panel rebuffs plans for a golf course and residential subdivision.

Rebuffed by the California Coastal Commission on the first try, the developers of a $35-million golf course and residential subdivision on a spectacular stretch of the Rancho Palos Verdes coastline say they will redesign the project and try again.

The commission ruled 6 to 3 against the controversial Hon-Zuckerman project late Wednesday after its staff reported that the golf links and 83 bluff-top lots would restrict public access to the beach. The staff also said the city-approved plans failed to sufficiently protect wildlife habitat.

But Commission Executive Director Peter M. Douglas said the vote “does not mean this is an unbuildable project,” and he suggested that a compromise might be worked out. The commission agreed to send the project back to the developer and the city for reconsideration.

The vote seemed to stun the developers and city officials who had argued that the project guaranteed public access to the seashore and adequately protected wildlife habitat along the bluffs of the 285-acre project.

The project is being jointly proposed by Orange County developer Barry Hon and by Ken Zuckerman, a builder from Palos Verdes Estates. After the hearing, the developers expressed a willingness to work out a compromise with the commission staff.

“They left the door open,” said Mike Mohler, project director. “We’ll have to analyze what the (commission) staff is saying, see what we have to modify, and then bring it back.”

The Hon-Zuckerman plans were approved in May by city officials, who have contended that the project complies with coastal protection laws and is needed to spur the sagging local economy.

Opponents appealed to the commission, arguing that the project failed to protect the habitat of a tiny songbird, the California gnatcatcher, and other wildlife. They also objected to the loss of open space and hiking trails.

“We’re extremely delighted with the decision,” said Andrew H. Sargent, spokesman for the Coastal Conservation Coalition, which represents several local environmental groups.

The area in question is a rugged coastal headland that drops off steeply to a narrow, rocky beach in the southeast corner of the city. The undeveloped terrain is crisscrossed by trails used by hikers and bicyclists.

“This is one of the few remaining large, vacant oceanfront parcels left within Los Angeles County,” the commission staff reported.

Though wildlife protection and open space issues were discussed Wednesday, the commission staff was primarily concerned about preserving public access to the coastal bluffs and the beach.

The commission vote left city officials wondering what the next step might be.

“At this point we’ve got to sit down with the commission staff--with the developer present--to get some specific directions,” said city Planning Director Carolynn Petru.

If a compromise is reached, any changes in the plans would have to go back to the city for more public hearings and council approval. And no matter what changes are proposed, opponents are likely to object again to the golf course.

“We’re still firmly opposed to the golf course but have no objection to the 83 lots,” Sargent said.

The commission staff has said that a golf course is an acceptable use, if properly designed and located. However, fitting both the golf course and the home sites on the land may prove difficult.

“The project . . . attempts to accommodate too much development on the site, leaving little room for public access,” the staff report stated.

The report also said more land should be set aside as open space or designated as public parks. In addition there will have to be more trails and bluff roads through areas now designated for the golf course.

The Hon-Zuckerman Project The California Coastal Commission has ruled against a $35-million project by developers Barry Hon and Ken Zuckerman to build a golf course and 83 homes in Rancho Palos Verdes on one of the few remaining open coastal bluffs in Southern California. Environmentalists contend that the project would destroy the nesting habitat of the California gnatcatcher.