State Supreme Court Refuses to Hear Laguna Niguel’s Bid for Monarch Beach

DANA POINT —  The city of Laguna Niguel has been dealt a setback in its three-year battle to regain control over a tax-rich strip of Monarch Beach with a state Supreme Court decision not to hear its legal challenge against Dana Point, city officials said Wednesday.

Assistant City Manager John Donlevy said that city officials were notified by David Cosgrove, acting attorney for the city in the long-running case, that the state’s highest court decided not to act on the Laguna Niguel appeal.

Donlevy said he did not know exactly when the court denied hearing the appeal.

“All the important players in this heard about it today,” Donlevy said.

The dispute is over a 1.5-mile-long stretch of beachfront property between Selva Road and Three Arch Bay. Residents of the area, which was initially part of the unincorporated planned community of Laguna Niguel, voted in a 1987 special election to join the Dana Point cityhood effort.

In the lawsuit, Laguna Niguel officials claimed that the Orange County Local Agency Formation Commission erred by only allowing voters in the 1,400-acre area to choose whether they should break from Laguna Niguel.

Laguna Niguel officials argued that all Laguna Niguel residents should have voted, since loss of the property, which includes the posh Ritz-Carlton hotel, would affect the financial future of the planned community.

At the time of the suit, Laguna Niguel was not yet a city but became one in December, 1989.

During the cityhood campaign, Laguna Niguel City Council candidates promised they would fight to regain the property, which includes Monarch Bay, Monarch Terrace, Monarch Beach, Emerald Ridge and Niguel Shores.

Dana Point officials praised the court decision and said they hoped the two cities could work together in the future.

“I am real pleased,” said City Councilwoman Eileen Krauss. “It removes the cloud (over the disputed property) and allows the city of Laguna Niguel to move on with its business.

“They’ve had this hope, and I think it distracted them,” she continued. “I’m hoping (the decision) improves the rapport between the two cities. It’s hard to work with someone when they’re suing you.”

Some Laguna Niguel officials refused to admit defeat.

“Of course the temporary loss of the coastal strip is a severe disappointment to the tens of thousands of Laguna Niguel residents who have counted on this area as being part of our permanent planned community,” City Councilman Paul M. Christiansen said.

He declined to comment on the possibility of the city appealing the decision to the federal courts.

The court decision is the latest political blow to the 26-square-mile city.

Recently, Laguna Niguel has been mired in a controversy over a land deal that allowed construction of new homes in an area designated for parkland. And the council will consider on Oct. 3 a residents’ initiative that would block a controversial development of a pristine ridgeline that overlooks South Laguna and the ocean.

Jack Hollingsworth, president of the Monarch Beach Civic Assn., said he hoped Laguna Niguel officials put the dispute with Dana Point behind them.

“I hope this now will redirect Laguna Niguel’s attention to their city problems,” he said. “I hope we all can now bury the hatchet.”

Times staff writer Wendy Paulson contributed to this report.