Laguna Beach : 40,000 Park Bond Signatures Collected

In the latest effort to keep a housing development out of Laguna Canyon, local residents have collected more than 40,000 signatures to place a parks bond measure on the state June ballot, Laguna Canyon Foundation Director Mary Fegraus said this week.

The $2-billion California Parks & Wildlife Initiative allows for the purchase, development, rehabilitation and conservation of parklands, wildlife areas, forests and historic sites throughout California.

If approved by the state’s voters, $25 million of the statewide funding will be provided to buy land in Laguna Canyon and $12 million to preserve hillsides above South Laguna.

“For our city to get $37 million is an extraordinary number,” said Michael Pinto, Laguna Canyon Foundation president.

Fegraus said about 650 volunteers, including 244 Leisure World residents, have worked through the summer soliciting signatures to get the bond measure on the ballot. The petition drive ends next month.

“It’s been an enormous effort, a real-people, hands-on sort of thing,” she said. “It’s our last big push to collect signatures.”

A 1990 agreement between the city and the Irvine Co., the landowner, allowed for 1,300 acres of land known as Laguna Laurel to be purchased incrementally so that it can be preserved as open space. The land was once targeted for the development of 3,200 homes.

Arrangements for a $5-million payment on the fourth parcel in the package were approved by the Laguna Beach City Council on Monday. That money comes from a variety of sources, including the city, the county and the state. A balloon payment of $33 million is due by June, 1995.

Signs reminding motorists that the purchase is not yet complete were installed by the foundation last week along Laguna Canyon Road.

To get the bond measure on the ballot, 375,000 signatures are needed statewide, but volunteers are attempting to collect many more than that to serve as a buffer, Fegraus said.

Anyone interested in collecting signatures or signing a petition can call (714) 855-PARK.