Marblehead Proposal Is Withdrawn

The company proposing a housing and retail development on San Clemente’s Marblehead bluff abruptly withdrew its plan Monday when it became clear the California Coastal Commission would reject it.

Officials for Lusk Co., which owns the 250-acre coastal parcel, withdrew the proposal to make major modifications.

“I’m disappointed,” said Jim Johnson, Lusk’s chief executive, after the Coastal Commission, meeting in San Diego, was 4 1/2 hours into its hearing on the issue. Johnson said he had expected the commission to approve the project, but some members were highly critical of the project, citing lack of public recreational opportunities and potential destruction of canyons, wetland buffers and coastal sage scrub, home of the threatened coastal gnatcatcher.

“I thought we had a good project. We will work with the city and the staff and be back. We will be back,” Johnson said.

The Irvine-based company proposed to build 412 homes, an outlet mall and retail center on the site, which once was considered as a location for the Nixon presidential library.

“While this is a project that has improved, we started with a truly dreadful project that’s now just a dreadful project,” alternate Coastal Commissioner Trent Orr told Lusk officials. “Try to be a little less greedy.”

The project has sharply divided South County residents. Lusk Co. chartered three buses to bring project supporters to the commission meeting, while San Clemente Citizens for Responsible Development brought a busload of opponents. In recent weeks, that group and a local Sierra Club task force have used mailings and the Internet to urge people to attend and speak out against the project.

Opponents are concerned that such a development would increase traffic congestion in the seaside city and destroy picturesque canyons and wetlands.

In late December, their fears were buttressed by the Coastal Commission staff, which strongly recommended that the project be rejected. The staff report said the development as proposed would violate several provisions of the state’s landmark Coastal Act and “would dramatically transform the natural landforms.”

The report also stated that the developer had failed to submit sufficient information about likely environmental effects.

The commission had scheduled a hearing on the project for January, but the developer requested a 60-day postponement after the staff report came out.

In other developments, the commission unanimously rejected a beautification project for Newport Beach’s Lido Isle after some residents said it was a ruse to discourage nonresidents from venturing on the picturesque island in Newport Bay.

The commission also voted unanimously to accept new water-quality measures that the Irvine Co. has agreed to take to protect the ocean off Crystal Cove State Park. The company is building thousands of homes on the hills above the park.

Larger Detention Ponds Included

Environmentalists are split about the new measures. Michael Fitts, an attorney for the group Defend the Bay, said they are a good first step but address only a small piece of the project’s potential effect on water quality.

The agreement include larger detention ponds and more sophisticated filtration of runoff. Fitts said the project still violates the state’s Ocean Plan because it discharges runoff into two inland creeks that drain into the ocean.

The commission also unanimously approved a spa at the Ritz-Carlton hotel in Dana Point that will contain a beauty salon, boutique, lap pool, sun deck, whirlpool, sauna and other amenities.

The commission staff’s had expressed concerns that the project would obstruct public access, but the commission modified permit conditions to make sure that would not happen and that the spa would not become a private-membership facility.

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Marblehead Plan

Facing denial, the Lusk CO. withdrew a Marblehead development proposal at the California Coastal Commission meeting Monday.

Main features of the withdrawn plan:

* Residences: 412 single family homes (68.8 acres)

* Commercial: 8 buildings (60.3 acres)

* Open space: public and private open space, including trails (67.7)

Source: Lusk Co.