Laguna Resort Nears Approval

A controversial plan to build a $150-million resort complex in South Laguna has cleared a major hurdle, winning City Council approval of design details for the development.

“This was a very significant step forward,” Laguna Beach City Manager Kenneth C. Frank said Wednesday of the council’s action late Tuesday. The Treasure Island resort, he said, “is the most significant project in Laguna Beach in the last 20 years, and I think we’re nearing the end.”

The council approved plans for a bluff-top park, 275-room hotel, restaurant and 14-unit condominium complex at the 31-acre site on South Coast Highway north of Aliso Beach.

The city’s Planning Commission and Design Review Board, which signed off on the plan last month, now must consider the tract map for 17 single-family homes. If both panels approve, the City Council could give final approval Jan. 25.

City officials say the project would generate nearly $3 million in annual tax revenue--about 10% of the city’s general fund. Construction on the park and hotel are expected to begin this summer, with completion in late 2001, Frank said. The residential units, he said, will be completed as they are sold. “This is a gorgeous site and an absolutely signature park,” he said. “People are going to love it.”

Support for the project as presented is not unanimous, though. The council approved it on a 3-2 vote, and many residents adamantly oppose various parts of the proposal.

Treasure Island, formerly a mobile home park, is one of the last undeveloped parcels on the Southern California coast. The state Coastal Commission’s 1998 approval for a resort there drew heavy criticism, much of it on environmental issues. Though a 55% majority of city voters approved the idea in an April referendum, the plan has met continued opposition.

“I was hoping that they would at least send it back to the Planning Commission and the Design Review Board and say it is not acceptable,” resident Jeannie Bernstein said of the council’s action Tuesday night. “It’s going to make a bad situation worse in terms of polluting coastal waters.”

Resident Ann Christoph expressed concern over the limited amount of public parking and open space in the plan. Also, she said, “the structure is going to be very large and one of the biggest in town. It will be out of scale with the village character of Laguna Beach.”

“I think it is a great project,” Councilman Steve Dicterow said. “I think it achieves what we wanted, which is to get a world-class resort on that spot.”

Both of the council members who voted against approval--Toni Iseman and Paul Freeman--said they support the development but want more time for fine-tuning. “A ‘no’ vote doesn’t mean I am not in favor of the project,” Iseman said.