Update : Follow-up on the news : LAGUNA NIGUEL : No Agreement on Ridge-Top Project
A Las Vegas casino owner and a group of South Laguna residents did not reach a truce this week in their five-year battle over a ridge-top housing project.
The City Council had hoped to resolve the project, but at the request of both sides--a homeowners group and developer Jack Binion--delayed action until September.
The housing project is proposed for a 22-acre parcel near Crown Valley Parkway and Pacific Coast Highway. Residents say the development would cause flooding in the neighborhood below.
“I really don’t want to dump mud and water on the heads of decent people in South Laguna, and I also don’t want to deny Mr. Binion a profit,” Councilwoman Janet Godfrey said.
The controversy has mobilized the South Laguna Civic Assn., a homeowners group, which has hired hydrology experts and produced video footage of back yards washed away during heavy rainfall.
Consultants hired by Binion say the hillside is historically unstable and further development will not make runoff any worse, a position supported by the city’s planning staff.
City officials rejected the project as proposed in 1992, when it would have included 32 homes.
--COMPILED BY FRANK MESSINA, BILL BILLITER AND JEFF BEAN
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