Laguna Plan to Get Closer Look

The California Coastal Commission on Tuesday agreed to scrutinize a controversial luxury resort proposed for a seaside stretch of Laguna Beach known as Treasure Island.

The five-star hotel and residential project on one of the last stretches of relatively undeveloped Laguna Beach coastline already has been approved by the city. Local activists took their fight to the commission--a powerful state agency that can, and has, trumped local decisions elsewhere on California’s coast.

The Athens Group, while not conceding that its development project warrants further scrutiny, agreed to a public hearing at the commission’s June meeting in Santa Barbara, said Peter Douglas, the commission’s executive officer.

Kim Richards, president of Athens Group, said opposition would have been futile.

“We felt there was going to be a public hearing in any event. It was fully anticipated,” he said.

The $150-million project would include a 275-room hotel, 17 homes and 14 condominiums on about 30 acres.

Officials from the Phoenix-based developer note that they have worked and compromised with local officials and residents for a long time leading up to the Laguna Beach City Council’s approval of the project in February.

“The reality is, this project is supported by the vast majority of the people in Laguna Beach,” Richards said, citing an April 1999 city referendum, where 55% of voters supported the South Laguna project.

The groups that appealed the city’s approval are a vocal minority, he added. “In many communities, you find a certain group of people who just are basically anti-development and they’re going to do everything and anything they can do to stop development, period.”

But the commission staff expressed concern in a March 31 report, which recommended a public hearing to decide whether the project meets state and local coastal protection laws.

After that hearing, the commission could require changes in the project, which critics contend is too big and too ritzy for what they call a “tranquil, village-like setting.”

The project was appealed to the commission by the Orange County CoastKeeper, the South Laguna Civic Assn., Village Laguna and two individuals.

In their challenge, activists say the project violates local and state coastal laws because it alters the natural contours of bluffs, is inconsistent with the local character, fails to offer lower-cost recreational facilities and doesn’t deal with the added urban runoff the project would send into an already contaminated offshore area.

Staff members said the project deserves scrutiny over the proposed grading of bluffs and whether the project’s resource-management plan would protect a state marine park immediately offshore.

At a public hearing, however, the commission can legally scrutinize any coastal facet of the project, which is what local activists hope will happen.

By taking their challenge to the Coastal Commission, these environmental and community groups are following a successful strategy that has delayed other Orange County projects for years, including Hearthside Homes’ development on Huntington Beach’s Bolsa Chica mesa and part of the Irvine Co.’s project above Crystal Cove State Park.

Treasure Island will be delayed at least two months because of Tuesday’s decision.

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More Scrutiny

The California Coastal Commission agreed to hold a public hearing in June at its Santa Barbara meeting on whether the Treasure Island project--approved by Laguna Beach in February--complies with state and local coastal protection laws.

The planned 30-acre project includes:

* A 275-room multistory hotel

* Two restaurants

* 17 homes

* 14 condominiums

* Public beach access