Coastal Park Plan Is a Lesson in Can-Do : * Dream Preserve Brings Together Diverse Groups in Inspirational Cooperation

There aren’t many lakes in Orange County that are not merely the byproduct of some developer’s vision of how to improve the landscape. An authentic lake --now there’s a find. Three of them, in fact, long neglected and much in need of revival, are being turned over to Laguna Beach as a result of its purchase of 2,150 acres of Irvine Co. land in Laguna Canyon. And these lakes, which are so unusual that they don’t even have names, are part of a larger natural wonder--the 10,000-acre crescent-shaped super park that the Board of Supervisors has just voted to create.

Orange County, with its growth in recent decades, has not often seen such exemplary moments, when public and private interests have intersected on land-use policy. Here, developers have joined with local and county officials to put aside precious open space for future generations.

The supervisors last week approved this enormous preserve, which will protect environmentally sensitive land while opening new trails and wilderness areas. The Coastal Greenbelt Regional Park will assemble large parcels of land to include some of the county’s most spectacular coastline views. It will make it possible to protect habitat in one large park, while easily buffering it from park visitors.

The park is possible because of a complex financing arrangement, the centerpiece of which is the $78-million purchase by Laguna Beach of Laguna Laurel, a 2,150-acre parcel once designated for residential development. It has brought together diverse interest groups in contributing land, raising funds and deciding how the land will be managed. The new government office, the Coastal Greenbelt Authority, will have two county representatives, two Laguna Beach representatives and one non-voting representative of the state Department of Fish and Game.

The dream of reviving the lakes, which could make them a major stopover for migrating waterfowl, will turn on a $75,000 state grant recently awarded to Laguna Greenbelt, a grass-roots conservation group. Again, more cooperation among county, local and private interests will make this possible.

All in all, this new park will stretch 7 miles inland from the coast and include two other parcels north of Crystal Cove State Park. With the rush to development, this new commitment requires the involvement of major players in Orange County. The energy and planning--not to mention the money--stand as a model of how to get things done that will inspire future generations.