DANA POINT : Most Residents Balk at Headlands Price

Although an overwhelming majority of Dana Point residents favor buying the 121-acre Headlands property overlooking Dana Point Harbor, they also are unwilling to pay for it, according to a city survey.

Of the 300 residents surveyed over a three-day period last month, 72% of the respondents supported a city purchase of the bluff-top property to save it as open space.

But when told the estimated $120-million purchase price for the entire property would cost the average Dana Point homeowner $750 a year for 30 years, 65% opposed the idea, the survey indicated.

The $25,000 survey, conducted Dec. 13-15 by Newport Beach political consultants Ellis-Hart Associates and distributed to city officials Tuesday, was approved by the City Council last fall to test whether the purchase of the Headlands should be put to a citywide vote.

The council next week will begin reviewing a proposed $500-million resort--including a 400-room hotel and 394 homes--proposed for the bluff top.

A survey summary included a series of conclusions, some of which were unsubstantiated with figures:

* Sixty percent of the electorate is willing to pay “something” for the Headlands.

* Residents “marginally” believe overcrowding will occur with the Headlands development.

* Residents prefer development over a tax increase to keep the land in open space.

The resort’s supporters and opponents offered their own varied conclusions on the survey results. City Councilman Mike Eggers said the results killed hopes for a city bond measure, which by law would require a two-thirds majority to pass.

“It’s dead,” Eggers said of the bond possibility. “It makes no sense to force taxpayers in Dana Point to pay an average of $750 a year to purchase open space when you are going to get over 50% of the Headlands as open space for free” under the development plan.

Opponents countered that the survey was incomplete. Residents should have been asked about smaller, less costly purchases of part of the Headlands, said Jacqueline Cain, founder of the Dana Point Headlands Conservancy, a group dedicated to buying part of the parcel.

“We never said we wanted to purchase the entire parcel of land,” Cain said. “If I were asked to pay $750 a year in taxes I would say no. I can’t afford that. . . . I’ve talked to hundreds and hundreds of people and they all tell me, yes, they want to purchase, how can they do it?”

City Councilwoman Karen Lloreda agreed with Eggers that the survey showed it would nearly impossible to get a two-thirds majority for a bond measure. But she also agreed that a smaller purchase may still be possible.