LAGUNA BEACH : Council Moves on Canyon Bond Plan

The City Council has voted to take steps to place a $10-million bond measure on the Nov. 6 ballot for the purchase of open space in Laguna Canyon.

The bond would be used to buy at least part of a 2,150-acre Laguna Laurel development site between El Toro Road and the San Diego Freeway.

The council vote on Tuesday to pursue the bond issue was based on results of a recent poll that found 66% of Laguna Beach respondents would pay $100 per year for 20 years to preserve a section of Laguna Canyon as a public wilderness park. County officials abandoned the possibility of a countywide bond referendum to buy open space in Laguna Canyon and elsewhere after the same poll indicated that it would probably fall short of the necessary two-thirds vote.

Passage of a local measure would raise about $10 million, while the value of the 3,200-home development site has been estimated at $50 million to $100 million, officials say. But environmentalists maintain the $10 million could serve as a “down payment” while additional funds could be solicited from other sources.

Another option, preservationists say, would be to buy part of the land while allowing a smaller development to proceed, concentrated near Leisure World and out of view of Laguna Canyon Road.

Pickets in front of City Hall on Tuesday evening, however, say no further development should be allowed in the canyon.

“Our basic philosophy was ‘no development in Laguna Canyon,’ ” said Beth Leeds, who was present for the first Laguna Canyon Conservancy meeting more than two years ago. “We have to stop somewhere and Laguna Canyon is it.”

A public hearing on the subject is scheduled Aug. 7.