DANA POINT : 2 Headlands Project Hearings to Be Held

Two crucial hearings will be held this week on the controversial $500-million hotel resort and residential project proposed for the Headlands overlooking Dana Point Harbor.

First, the City Council is expected to vote tonight on a plan that would allow the landowners to build a 400-room hotel, two commercial centers and 394 homes on the 121-acre parcel, which offers 180-degree views of the South County coastline.

The project’s proponents claim it is crucial for the financial future of the city, while its opponents claim it would destroy one of the last undeveloped coastal parcels in Southern California.

On Wednesday, the Planning Commission will review a proposed development agreement on the same Headlands plan, which could lock in the city’s approval of the project for 23 years or more. The commission could vote on the agreement as early as Wednesday, but it must still be approved by the council before it goes into effect.

The specific plan and development agreement are related, but different aspects of the city’s approval process, said Edward M. Knight, Dana Point’s director of community development.

“The specific plan lays out all the parameters of the development of the city, including policies and regulations,” Knight said. “The development agreement is more like a contract written by attorneys.”

Planning Commissioner Lynn Dawson called the development agreement “very, very, very important because it’s so long a term.”

Included among the stipulations in the development agreement are:

* An option that gives the city the right to buy a parcel of the Headlands at the intersection of Pacific Coast Highway and Street of the Green Lantern for use as a civic center.

* A proposal that calls for the developer to donate the proceeds of the sale of one residential lot to the Orange County Marine Institute.

* The right of the developer to choose which portion of the project to build first. The landowner has indicated that the 95 custom-home lots on the 20-plus acres along The Strand, a former trailer park at the northwest section of the project, will be sold first.

“We need to look at this real carefully and not rush,” Dawson said. “This is our last remaining piece of property. . . . We may have to go back to the drawing board and make sure everyone understands what they are getting into.”

Celia Kutcher, a spokeswoman for the Dana Point Headlands Conservancy, said her group will continue to oppose the project at both meetings this week. The conservancy hopes to raise funds to buy a large portion of the Headlands parcel.

“This is not the end of the process by any means,” Kutcher said. “We still feel as much of this property as possible should remain as open space.”

The Headlands property is owned by the Newport Beach-based M.H. Sherman Co. and Chandis Securities Co. Chandis Securities, a firm that oversees the financial holdings of the Chandler family, is a principal stockholder of Times Mirror Co., which publishes the Los Angeles Times.