LAGUNA NIGUEL : Planners to Consider 2 Development Plans

The Planning Commission will hold a special hearing tonight to consider approval of a proposed commercial center at the intersection of La Paz and Aliso Creek roads.

The commission will also take testimony from residents, city officials and others on an environmental impact report on development of the Binion ridgeline property overlooking South Laguna.

Both the proposed Birtcher Center and a 32-unit subdivision planned for the Binion property have sparked opposition from residents who live near the proposed projects.

Beginning at 5 p.m., commissioners will look at redesigned plans for the four-phase project by Birtcher Niguel. In the first phase, the company has proposed building a commercial center containing two restaurants, a Family Fitness Center health club, an Edwards Cinema and an office building. In additional phases, three more office buildings may also be added, according to Mitch Brown, vice president of Birtcher Niguel.

The city staff has recommended that the commissioners approve the project, said Robert Lenard, director of community development for the city.

The redesign to be discussed will include moving the location of the restaurants as well as shrinking their size to provide more parking space on the 12.8-acre site. In addition, the redesign calls for reducing the size of the office buildings from three stories to two.

But the hearing on the 374,000-square-foot Birtcher Center is expected to attract angry residents from the nearby Lake Chateau community who say the project will create noise and tie up traffic from early morning until late at night.

Following the hearing on the Birtcher project, planning commissioners will review the environmental impact report for the proposed 32-lot subdivision on the Binion property at the end of Skyview Way.

Residents, city officials and others will be given the opportunity to discuss the report and evaluate its adequacy. The commission is not scheduled to take action on the environmental report until its Nov. 10 meeting, at the earliest.