LAGUNA BEACH : City Won’t Soften Tollway Opposition

The City Council last week heard three residents offer alternate designs for the planned San Joaquin Hills tollway, but the council held fast in its opposition to having the project built in any form.

While the city has fiercely opposed the toll road and refused to work with local transportation officials in its planning, some residents are now saying the project is on a slippery slope toward becoming a reality. They say city officials should soften their stance and lobby for a road design that will be less environmentally damaging to Laguna Canyon.

Urban planner Jack Camp and illustrator Dan Sasso offered their “country road scheme,” a design with meandering off-ramps that they say would lessen the impact on Laguna Canyon.

The proposed tollway is to cut through the canyon in an attempt to provide more direct access to freeways in the Laguna-Newport Beach area.

Brand summed up the sentiments of some who spoke to the council last Tuesday when he took his turn at the podium.

“I don’t think any of you deny there’s a very real risk that the corridor will be built,” Brand said. “I hate to see the corridor built. I oppose it. But I am now willing to compromise.”

The hearing was held to allow people like Brand to voice their opinions on the tollway debate and to offer potentially workable alternatives. But the council remained adamant in its position, voting 5 to 0 at the close of the hearing to continue its opposition.

The council gained support from residents who pleaded for the city to stand firm in its opposition to the roadway, which they predict will not survive future court battles.

“This City Council has done many things that couldn’t be done,” Laguna Canyon resident Sandy Lucas said. “They say this road will be built (but) this city can stop it.”

“It’s not possible to pretty up the toll road so it will be acceptable,” Village Laguna president Johanna Felder said.

Laguna Beach is the only South County city that has refused to join the Transportation Corridor Agencies, an organization of city and county representatives charged with building three county toll roads, including the San Joaquin project.

As part of its agreement to purchase the Laguna Laurel property, a pristine chunk of open space in Laguna Canyon once slated for development, the council has agreed not to participate in any lawsuit attempting to stop construction of the San Joaquin Hills tollway. That agreement, however, has not silenced council members, who have for years vehemently opposed the project.

At last week’s hearing, Councilwoman Lida Lenney urged corridor opponents to donate money to environmental groups suing to block the road and predicted that those groups will eventually prevail.

“It’s not easy to win these fights,” Lenney said. “It takes a long time, it takes a lot of energy, it takes a lot of money. But together we can do it.”

Councilwoman Ann Christoph seemed even more opposed to the road by the end of the presentation, which she said “raises concerns not only of the overall badness of it but the detailed badness of it.”

Brand said after the meeting that he will continue to lobby for a compromise despite the council’s determination not to budge.

“That was sort of the last chance to find an alternative to (winning) the lawsuit,” he said of last week’s meeting. “Looks like the council is committed to win or lose it all.”