Treasure Island Gets Unanimous OK From Coastal Panel

The California Coastal Commission on Wednesday cleared the way for a controversial luxury resort and residential project in South Laguna.

The powerful state agency, which has the final say on development along the coast, voted unanimously to accept its staff’s recommendations on the $150-million Treasure Island project by Phoenix-based developer Athens Group. A 275-room hotel, 17 homes and 14 condominiums on about 30 acres were approved by the Laguna Beach City Council in February.

“We anticipated support by the Coastal Commission,” said Kim Richards, Athens Group president. “There was strong support. You could see that by the 9-0 vote.”

Laguna Beach Mayor Kathleen Blackburn was among those who spoke to the commission in favor of the development. “The city is supportive of this project for a number of reasons,” she said. “The site is incredibly degraded and for over 50 years has been closed to any public access.”

City Manager Kenneth C. Frank said the public would have new access to beaches, coves and parks, with potential for educational programs in tide pools below the bluffs.

Orange County CoastKeeper, the South Laguna Civic Assn., Village Laguna and two individuals had appealed the council’s approval to the commission, saying the project is too big and too ritzy for the tranquil seaside town.

Ginger Osborne, representing the civic association, argued against the project, saying, “Treasure Island represents the last, most important piece of coastal property in Laguna Beach.”

By taking their fight to the Coastal Commission, environmentalists and community groups followed a strategy that has delayed other Orange County projects for years and even decades.

In their challenge, opponents said Treasure Island would violate local and state coastal laws because it would alter natural bluffs, would be inconsistent with local character, would not offer lower-cost recreational facilities, and would not have provisions to keep urban runoff out of an already-polluted part of the ocean.

The commission’s staff initially agreed that the project warranted further scrutiny, primarily bluff-top development and water quality. However, in a report released this month, the staff recommended that the commission approve the project--with 10 conditions. They are:

* Keeping all buildings at least 45 feet from the top of the bluff.

* Relocating bluff-top access if the development is threatened by waves, erosion, storms or other natural hazards.

* Prohibiting future sea walls and other shoreline installations that would protect the resort from natural hazards.

* Acknowledging that the site could be damaged by natural hazards, such as waves and erosion, and that the developer assumes liability for those.

* Developing a resource management plan to protect the offshore ecosystem and nominating the city-designated reserve as a state marine managed area.

* Diverting runoff from the development and 60 acres above the site to a waste water treatment plant year-round.

* Delegating an authority to deal with storm water, sewer, diversion and sediment systems.

* Developing a monitoring plan that would analyze the effects of storm water on the marine reserve for five years.

* Including 10 measures that would deal with landscape, urban and trash runoff in the project’s water quality management plan.

* Delegating Laguna Beach as the agency responsible for ensuring that the developer complies with all conditions of the city’s approval of the project.