Laguna Woods Opens Doors to Nonseniors

Laguna Woods, the nation’s only city of senior citizens, agreed Monday to allow the first nonseniors to become homeowners and residents.

The City Council voted unanimously, with Councilwoman Brenda B. Ross absent, to end its protest of the county’s approval for 23 single-family home lots on a pocket of unincorporated land the city hopes to annex next week.

The county Planning Commission approved the lots in October and imposed no age restrictions on the buyers. The lots would be built on a 10.6-acre parcel circled by city property.

After Monday’s council vote, the city dropped its appeals of three planning approvals to be ratified today by the Board of Supervisors. In exchange for the city’s support, the property owner, Rossmoor Partners, agreed to back the city’s bid to annex the land.

The vast majority of Laguna Woods’ residents live within the gated enclave of Leisure World, a retirement community that enforces an age requirement through deed restrictions and private corporation rules. Residents younger than 55 are prohibited unless they are married to someone who meets the age requirement.

An apartment complex outside Leisure World’s gates also is restricted to seniors.

The parcel is near the city border with Laguna Beach. The property wasn’t originally included within Laguna Woods because Rossmoor Partners, based in Newport Beach, didn’t want the restrictions the city would have imposed. Company officials couldn’t be reached Monday for comment.

The city’s protest was spurred by a desire to control the property’s future, not to restrict the age of new residents, City Manager Leslie A. Keane said Monday.

City officials realized they probably couldn’t impose the same age restrictions that exist at the city’s older housing units, Keane said, even though the city had designated the undeveloped parcel for older residents. The council Monday agreed to rezone the parcel with no age restrictions.

“This is a compatibility and control issue,” Keane said.

Incorporated in 1999, Laguna Woods is the first city in the nation to be formed entirely from a retirement community. It is Orange County’s 32nd city and has 16,725 residents. The median age is 78.

The city had been eyeing the property for several uses, including affordable housing or buying it for open space, Keane said.

The city is in the process of drafting its general plan, a document that all California cities must submit to the state every five years. A key portion is the housing element, which describes how it intends to provide housing for all types of residents, including lower-income families.

A review by the city showed that housing is available for most income levels, Keane said. The city has about 1,800 rental units, some available for lower-income senior renters.

The city’s problem is with new housing, she said. Recent state requirements call for Laguna Woods to provide zoning for 113 new housing units--a way for each city to make sure it is keeping up with the demand for new housing. Of the 113 units, 35 are supposed to be available for low- and very-low-income families.

The city is considering rezoning land currently held as open space for homes, Keane said. That property is outside the Leisure World gates and is owned by the Golden Rain Foundation, one of Leisure World’s developers.

“Our issue is with new construction,” Keane said. “That’s what we’re struggling with” because there is very little open land in the city.

State and federal officials have said for two years that they won’t know how Laguna Woods’ housing plan will be received by state regulators until it is submitted. Officials with the Orange County Fair Housing Council have said the age restrictions amount to de facto segregation.

Housing laws ban discrimination based on race, religion, sex and national origin--so-called protected classes. Age, however, is not a protected class.