Dana Point : Council to Consider Pact on Headlands

Only a week after approving a controversial $500-million hotel and residential plan for the Headlands, the City Council tonight will consider a development agreement for the 121-acre property near Dana Point Harbor.

The proposed 70-page agreement, which the council is not required to sign, legally binds the city and the developer for at least 10 years, according to City Atty. Jerry Patterson.

Also, unlike the plan approved last week, the development agreement cannot be amended by a future council unless the developer agrees, Patterson said.

It was only after nearly three years of debate that the council last week voted 4 to 1 to approve the $500-million plan for the Headlands.

Since the 1940s, the Headlands property has been owned by the 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.

The development agreement further details what the landowner and the city get under the plan. Included for the landowner are:

* Discretion over what parts of the plan are constructed when. As written, the hotel and commercial parts of the plan, which would provide city revenue, could be built last or perhaps never.

* City assistance in obtaining federal and state approvals for the plan, including that of the California Coastal Commission.

Included for the city are:

* About 59 acres dedicated for parks and open space and $2.8 million in improvements for the parks.

* The right to purchase a 2.7-acre parcel at the intersection of Pacific Coast Highway and Street of the Green Lantern for 80% of fair market value for a civic/cultural center.