Montage’s Dream Has Holes in It

Montage Resort & Spa officials said Tuesday that they were back to square one in their quest to build a championship-scale golf course in Laguna Beach after an Orange County supervisor rejected their plan to encroach on a protected wilderness park.

“After getting this news and figuring out where we stand, we’re starting all over,” said Marguarite Clark, spokeswoman for the luxury hotel in South Laguna.

“Eighteen holes is not imperative to us,” she said. “We want to do what’s right for the community, what’s right for the environment.”

In no uncertain terms, Supervisor Tom Wilson said Monday he did not support selling or leasing part of the county’s Aliso & Wood Canyons Wilderness Park to Montage investors for golf course development.

He elaborated on that position Tuesday.

“I just feel that no development should be down in there,” Wilson said. “It’s just a lovely area.... I’m a golfer and I’ve seen how golf courses can be constructed and take the environment into consideration. But I just couldn’t see that working in the canyon.”

Montage officials have said that an 18-hole golf course would be a nice addition to their luxury beachfront resort. To that end, they bought the nearby 80-acre Aliso Creek Inn and Golf Course, the site of a nine-hole course, and an adjoining 240 undeveloped acres formerly owned by Driftwood Estates.

The golf course proposal faced an uphill battle -- community opposition and a complex approval process involving state and federal agencies. Montage officials said they also would help clean polluted Aliso Creek and extend or build additional public trails.

“Those were positive things,” Wilson said. But after reviewing the environmental hurdles, he said it didn’t seem feasible.

“It sounds good ... but [it’s] not something that I can see working,” he said.

Wilson said he received several calls Tuesday supporting his position.

“It makes everybody breathe a little bit easier about all of our parkland here in Orange County,” said Mary Fegraus, executive director of the Laguna Canyon Foundation. “This is public parkland. It’s land that has been preserved, hopefully in perpetuity.”