Laguna Niguel Planners Besieged by Homeowners Protesting Project : Development: Residents of upscale tract pack hearing to register opposition to Birtcher’s plan that includes health club, movie theater. After hours of debate, the decision is postponed.

Angry residents of an upscale housing tract near City Hall packed a Planning Commission hearing Tuesday night to oppose plans to build a 12.8-acre commercial center, including a health club and six-screen movie theater, across the street from their neighborhood.

There was standing room only when the commission met for more than four hours to consider the proposal by the Laguna Niguel-based Birtcher Niguel Co. for the development at La Paz and Aliso Creek roads.

After a sometimes heated session, commissioners voted unanimously to continue the hearing to Oct. 15, saying they wanted more information on how the proposed center would affect traffic and parking.

Residents of Lake Chateau, a 109-home tract, charged that the theater and fitness center would devastate their neighborhood and lower property values by bringing traffic, noise and pollution. Virtually every homeowner in the tract has signed a petition opposing the project.

“This is a bad project,” said Bob Estanislau, a Lake Chateau resident. “The project as proposed with a cinema and Family Fitness-type of health club would open at 5:30 a.m. and remain open until 1 in the morning.”

Proponents of the development, including the Laguna Niguel Chamber of Commerce, residents and business owners, said the center would create jobs and generate much-needed tax dollars for the city.

“In the state of today’s economy, it is important to keep the consumer dollar generated and spent by our citizens here in Laguna Niguel,” said Barbara Speare, the chamber’s president-elect. The proposal “also gives our residents the opportunity of enhancing their lives by working and shopping locally where they live.”

Even if the Planning Commission approves the project, the City Council will have final say on a zoning change necessary for the center to be built as proposed.

Plans call for the 375,000-square-foot project, targeted for the northeast corner of the intersection, to be developed in four phases over the next 18 years. In addition to a proposed Edwards Theater and Family Fitness Center, the first phase of the project would include two restaurants, retail shops and a four-story office building.

Three more four-story office buildings, comprising a bulk of the 300,000 square feet of proposed office space, would be built when market conditions allowed, Birtcher Niguel officials said. The Laguna Niguel-based development company, which has its offices next to the building site, has been planning the center since early 1991.

In August, city planning staff members recommended that the Planning Commission approve the project, saying it would help the city achieve such goals as improving sales tax revenue and creating a better balance between jobs and housing.

However, Lake Chateau homeowners say a movie theater would create only $12,000 to $14,000 a year in sales tax revenue while a health club and office building would generate virtually no sales tax.

Homeowners said they would be willing to support a development with retail shops and restaurants only, excluding a movie theater or health club.