Developer Sees Attraction of Lighthouse on Headlands

The developer of the 122-acre Headlands property in Dana Point wants to build more homes on the environmentally sensitive area and bring a new attraction to Orange County--a lighthouse on a bluff overlooking the Pacific Ocean.

Developer Sanford Edward, who recently won a court case forcing the city to drop its own Headlands’ plan and process Edward’s, added the lighthouse to the project after holding meetings with local residents who suggested it, he said.

“Based on community input,” Edward said, “we’ve been thinking of putting a lighthouse up on the headlands, and we also have plans to build a 2,000- to 3,000-square-foot structure that could house the Dana Point Historical Society.”

The lighthouse would not function as a navigational tool for boating because it would require U.S. Coast Guard approval, but it may be a tourist draw, Headlands officials said.

The lighthouse may be similar to the one in Point Loma in San Diego County, but the design has not been determined.

Edward announced the proposed lighthouse and a new number of homes for the Headlands at a news conference Tuesday in Dana Point.

Representatives for the historical society said they could not politically support the developer’s proposal for a lighthouse because taking a position might jeopardize their private, nonprofit status. But as residents, they said they approved adding a permanent home for their group.

“He’s looking for community support for his project and since we’re a well-established agency in need of a home, this is a good idea,” said Judy Henderson, historical society treasurer. “A lighthouse would be wonderful. And, of course, tourists love to go to different places and look and read about historical interest. It would be a great asset for the city and the community.”

City Manager John B. Bahorski said the new plan was submitted but that he did not have time to study many of its proposals, including the one for the lighthouse.

“The city had not considered building a lighthouse on the bluff,” Bahorski said. “I don’t think we’ve ever considered that kind of an issue. I think that’s a problem for us because it’s not a very stable area. But we’ll have to look at the map and where they want to put it.”

Edward’s new proposal calls for 261 homes, compared with 185 in the city’s plan. But if the city buys property for open space, the developer has agreed to reduce the number of homes to 205.

Additionally, the developer has proposed a 75- to 100-room resort overlooking Dana Point Harbor on the Headlands’ southern boundary. The city wanted to have a 150-room hotel on the Dana Strands, the area in the northern section of the Headlands.

The developer can have as many as 65 1/2 acres of open space; the city’s plan called for 70 acres.

Bahorski said he would have to investigate whether the city is authorized to begin processing the developer’s proposal in view of recent litigation between both parties.

Orange County Superior Court Judge John C. Woolley ordered the city to stop pursuing its plan for the Headlands because the city did not adhere to its own General Plan. But Dana Point appealed the judge’s decision and a ruling is pending.

“I think we do not have to process [the developer’s specific plan] right away, because there’s the issue of our appeal and that may put us in a limbo state,” Bahorski said. “It’s a complex legal issue and we’re going to have to investigate with our legal counsel.”

The Headlands dispute has gone on for decades, including two successful referendums in 1994 that rescinded the City Council’s approval of a $500-million project calling for a 400-room hotel, a commercial center and 370 homes.

Although the Headlands owner sued, the courts upheld the referendums--but also said that the owners have a right to use their land and that the city must allow some development or be ready to compensate the landowners.

The area has two marine refuges and 45 acres of environmentally sensitive coastal sage scrub providing habitat for the endangered Pacific pocket mouse and the gnatcatcher, a rare songbird that is threatened but not on the endangered species list.