Opposition Likely for Revised Reservoir Plan : Safety: The Laguna Beach County Water District board may reject the City Council’s compromise package requiring a below-ground structure and replacement of the open space used.

Local water district directors today probably will reject a compromise plan for a $3.7-million hilltop reservoir, thus extending a three-year controversy that hit a peak after the city’s recent devastating wildfire.

Directors of the Laguna Beach County Water District said Monday that they will probably push forward their own reservoir plan and dismiss a modified project recommended by the City Council.

A council majority that long opposed the reservoir for environmental reasons did an about-face last month, voting for the reservoir amid intense criticism by residents who claimed the 3-million-gallon tank could have helped fight the fire that destroyed 366 homes on Oct. 27.

The council’s compromise plan would require that the reservoir be buried to help preserve the environmentally sensitive hilltop. Water district officials, however, say that would defeat the purpose of an elevated, gravity-based water system.

“There should be no compromise with public safety,” said Louis J. Zitnik, an 18-year board member and current vice president.

Zitnik predicted that the compromise plan would not win a single vote from the five-member water board.

“I believe the board will continue to insist we have a gravity-flow system,” he said. “I’m inalterably against anything less than that.”

Water board President Richard Jahraus, who has served on the board for 25 years, has already said he will oppose any compromise, predicting the issue will end up in court. He said the reservoir could have saved some homes.

A rejection by the water district would mean “the ball’s back in our court,” Councilwoman Kathleen Blackburn said. Blackburn, a longtime supporter of constructing the reservoir, said she hoped an agreement could be reached.

“Now, with the concern with fire, people are feeling very vulnerable and want to do anything they can to protect themselves,” she said.

Prompted by the fire and an attempt to end the three-year stalemate, the council last month conditionally approved a proposal to build the reservoir on a 2 1/2-acre knoll in the city’s Top of the World neighborhood. The council vote was 3 to 1, with Mayor Lida Lenney dissenting. Councilwoman Ann Christoph abstained.

The council approval came with two conditions, both aimed at relieving any adverse effects the reservoir might bring for the open space site in the Laguna Greenbelt that was proposed for the structure.

Along with the suggestion that the reservoir be placed entirely below ground level, the council stipulated that the water district must dedicate another 2 1/2-acre site for open space use. Even the replacement condition is not certain to win board approval, Zitnik said.

“We’re ready to discuss it with them, but I’m not sure it’s our responsibility (to) find an alternate property,” Zitnik said. “We have to pay for the property, but that’s still a negotiable item.”

The council and the water district board, which are two independent governmental bodies, have been locked in a standoff over the reservoir since it was proposed for a city-owned parcel in 1990.

The district board has steadfastly claimed that the reservoir--which would be the city’s 23rd--is necessary for emergencies, a contention the council has rejected.

The controversy heated up last summer when the water district sued the city through eminent domain to take control of the reservoir site. On Oct. 22, just five days before the fire, a Superior Court judge granted the water district possession of the parcel.

Last month, the water board awarded a $156,000 engineering design contract on the project to Irvine-based Robert Bein, William Frost & Associates.