LAGUNA WOODS

On a 3-2 vote, the City Council on Wednesday withdrew plans for a new signal at the entrance to St. Nicolas Church on El Toro Road.

The council had given church officials until last Wednesday to either accept or decline the proposed traffic signal, or the city would consider other alternatives.

Although church officials say they do want the traffic signal installed, they rejected the condition attached to it--that they remove a barrier of steel poles separating the church, at 24252 El Toro Road, from the Olive Garden restaurant and the rest of the Willow Tree Shopping Center.

The condition, which would allow nonchurchgoers to drive across church property, would increase the church’s liability, said Dan Holden, attorney for the Diocese of Orange.