City’s Coastal Plan Amended to Accommodate Housing Project

The City Council this week amended Laguna Niguel’s coastal plan so that a controversial housing project can proceed.

Las Vegas casino owner Jack Binion is proposing to build a 22-home bluff-top subdivision that would be visible from Pacific Coast Highway. A Superior Court judge recently ruled the project to be a violation of the city’s coastal development laws.

The amendment, passed on a 3-1 vote, will allow Binion homes to be within view of the highway as long as they are no more visible than the neighboring Monarch Pointe tract.

“The bottom line . . . is we’ve given this development more focus than any other Laguna Niguel project in the city’s history,” Councilman Thomas W. Wilson said. “I believe we’ve made the case for compliance.”

Last year, after the council approved the Binion project, South Laguna Civic Assn., a group of homeowners who live beneath the proposed development, filed a lawsuit to block it, arguing that it would cause flooding and landslides, and would be unsightly.

In June, Superior Court Judge William F. McDonald said the project violated Laguna Niguel’s coastal plan and would require an amendment from the city.

The dissenting vote for the amendment came from Councilman Eddie Rose, who argued that the coastal plan is supposed to keep homes from marring the view along the scenic highway.

“The original intent of the [California Coastal Commission] was to prohibit development from being visible in some cases and minimize visual impact elsewhere,” he said.