Judge Rules in Favor of Headlands Developer

An Orange County Superior Court judge has ruled in favor of the Dana Point Headlands owner and developer and ordered the city to consider his plan for the environmentally sensitive area, it was announced Wednesday.

In granting a request by Sanford Edward, a partner of the Headlands Reserve LLC, Judge John C. Woolley directed the city to “accept and process” the landowner’s specific plan for the 122-acre parcel overlooking the Pacific Ocean.

Woolley ruled that the city’s plan was inconsistent with the General Plan, according to Edward’s attorney, Alan Droste.

City officials could not be reached late Wednesday and it could not be determined whether the city intends to appeal the judge’s decision.

The City Council voted in June to allow 185 homes to be built on the bluff overlooking Dana Point Harbor, and a hotel on the Strand, an area near sea level north of the bluff. City officials are working out details of that proposal.

The city’s General Plan, however, would allow between 261 and 522 homes and a hotel to be built on the bluff overlooking the harbor, Edward said, which is consistent with what he has proposed.

Edward has reduced the number of homes, but he said he is adamant about building the hotel on top of the bluff. So far, Edward said city officials have rebuffed attempts to “sit down and negotiate” the Headlands cooperatively.

“This court order creates an opportunity for us to submit a plan that represents a true compromise,” Edward said. “We will seek a balance between the concerns of the community, the city and ourselves, without sacrificing the quality of the project.”