The Orange County Vote : Defeat of Prop. 180 Imperils Land Deal : Environment: Backers plan to explore other funding sources for purchase of open space in Laguna Canyon from Irvine Co.

Proponents of a failed statewide bond measure that would have provided $25 million to buy more open space in Laguna Canyon were hopeful Wednesday they could overcome the major setback and still save the land from development.

After voters in Tuesday’s election defeated Proposition 180--the main source of funding for the canyon land--city officials and fund-raising leaders prepared to explore other ways to ensure that 1,500 homes will not be built on the pristine strip of land alongside Laguna Canyon Road.

Still, no one could say precisely where the money will come from. And the measure’s demise was the latest in a series of disasters and disappointments for Laguna Beach.

In a city battered since October by a massive firestorm, mudslides and discovery of ancient landslides beneath residential areas, Mayor Ann Christoph sounded a note of resignation Wednesday.

“We’re sort of used to bad news,” said Christoph, who had mailed postcards to friends throughout the state lobbying for passage of Proposition 180. “(And) they just hit us again with more bad news.”

But Christoph and others involved in the fund-raising drive to buy 189 acres--the last segment of a 2,150-acre open space purchase known as Laguna Laurel--said they don’t intend to give up.

“The phones have been ringing, ringing, ringing,” Laguna Canyon Foundation director Mary Fegraus said Wednesday. Supporters “are so disappointed . . . (but) they still feel this project was meant to be.”

The $25 million promised under the bond measure would have provided the bulk of the $33 million, plus interest, that Laguna Beach needs to make the final payment for land the city has agreed to buy from the Irvine Co.

The landmark purchase agreement reached in 1990 called for the city to buy a total of 2,150 acres over five years for $78 million. The initial payment of $33 million was paid in 1991, and lesser payments followed in subsequent years.

Preservationists have worried over how they would scrape together the final $33-million payment due next June, and pinned their hopes on Proposition 180.

More than 1,500 local volunteers joined the effort, first to get the California Parks and Wildlife initiative, CALPAW, on the ballot and then to win voter support. Many Leisure World residents, whose community abuts the canyon acreage, joined the effort.

However, Proposition 180 failed, along with most other statewide spending measures on the ballot, apparent victims of an anti-spending sentiment sweeping the state.

“My first reaction is just extreme disappointment, but I certainly understand why the vote went the way it did in such a recessionary time,” said Laguna Beach Councilman Robert F. Gentry, who was involved in the original negotiations with the Irvine Co. “People just do not want to risk additional debt and I understand that.”

Gentry said the city and the Irvine Co. will meet soon to weigh alternatives. “We both want the final purchase to happen,” he said.

A spokesman for the Irvine Co. agreed Wednesday that all is not lost.

“These are very resourceful and determined people,” said Larry Thomas, senior vice president of corporate communications. “It does place the ball back in their court to secure financing for the fifth year. But we’re pretty confident they have the imagination and the energy to accomplish that. I think they probably surprised people having come this far in being able to put this together.”

Fegraus and city officials offered a list Wednesday of other possibilities.

Fegraus said state or federal grants may be available and “a couple million” will come from private sources. She said residents in some areas near the open space may be willing to form an assessment district to help pay for the land.

Laguna Beach City Manager Kenneth C. Frank said that if the economy improves, new construction could generate developer fees that could be used to buy open space.

“I don’t think anybody’s giving up at this point,” Frank said.

Laguna Park in Limbo Rejection of Proposition 180 has thrown into question the purchase of the last parcel of the proposed Laguna Laurel development for inclusion in Laguna Wilderness Park. The city of Laguna Beach has relied on a variety of funding sources to purchase other parcels that are part of the deal. Laguna Beach taxpayers: 44% Orange County: 22 Proposition 70 allocation: 12 Laguna Beach Open Space Fund: 10 California Wildlife Conservation Board: 9 State Grants: 2 Private donations: 1 Laguna Laurel Purchase at a Glance Landowner: Irvine Co. Total acres: 2,150 Acres left to purchase: 189 Total purchase cost: $ 78 million Cost of remaining acres: $ 33 million plus interest Payment due: June, 1995 Proposition 180 allocation lost: $25 million What’s Next?: Irvine Co. and Laguna Beach officials will meet to discuss funding alternatives Source: Laguna Canyon Foundation; Researched by LESLIE EARNEST / For The Times