LAGUNA NIGUEL : Decision Delayed on Hilltop Development

The fate of a controversial hilltop housing project in the works since 1990 will be delayed an additional six weeks at the developer’s request.

Phil Bettencourt, an attorney for landowner Jack Binion, asked the City Council to postpone its vote on the project this week and give the developer more time to negotiate with neighboring Laguna Beach over drainage and erosion issues.

The proposed 22-unit custom housing project, near the Monarch Point gated community, will return to the council agenda for its July 18 meeting.

Fears that the project could cause flooding and landslides drew about 75 people to the council chambers, many of them residents of the South Laguna Civic Assn. whose homes sit below the project.

“When all is said and done, we have to live with this decision,” said Michael Beanan, vice president of the association. “We are in the direct impact zone of the entire project.”

During a 4 1/2-hour public hearing, hydrology experts exchanged conflicting viewpoints over the potential for landslides.

Elmer Christiansen, an erosion specialist hired by the homeowners, told the council that drainage systems in the project were good, “but a great amount of attention needs to be paid to where the water goes and how it affects hundreds of people living below.”

City planners have agreed with Binion’s drainage experts, saying the steep hills have had run-off problems for many years that will not be exacerbated by the housing tract.

The council remains split on the project. Mayor Mark Goodman and Councilman Tom Wilson have said they are favoring it, while council members Janet Godfrey and Eddie Rose have expressed reservations.

Council member Pat Bates said she would abstain from voting because of a potential conflict of interest. Bates lives in the Monarch Point community adjoining the project site.