DANA POINT : Headlands Campaign Cost Owners $232,000

Owners of the 121-acre Dana Point Headlands spent nearly $232,000 in a futile effort to pass a local referendum last November that would have allowed them to develop the property, records show.

According to campaign finance statements filed this week, the money was spent on campaign literature, political consultants and attorney fees targeted at passing measures C and D on the city ballot.

The property owners, Newport Beach-based M.H. Sherman Co. and Pasadena-based Chandis Securities Co., which have jointly owned the property since the 1940s, sought to build a $500-million luxury resort, including a 400-room hotel, and 370 homes on the parcel near Dana Point Harbor.

The plan was approved by the City Council in April but defeated in the referendum as city voters rejected the measures by a nearly 10% margin.

Campaign finance statements show that opponents of the two measures, the Committee to Save the Headlands, spent just under $9,000 on the campaign.

The property owners have since filed a lawsuit against the city of Dana Point seeking to overturn the election results. A spokesman said the suit was filed to protect the owners’ “constitutional rights” to use their property.

The suit also asks for at least $3 million in damages from the city.

Chandis Securities, a firm that oversees the financial holdings of the Chandler family, is a major stockholder in Times Mirror Co., publisher of the Los Angeles Times.