LAGUNA NIGUEL : Hillside Ordinance to Be Considered

The City Council tonight will consider a controversial ordinance that would govern development on the city’s hillsides.

The question of how much protection should be extended to the area’s few remaining undeveloped hillsides and ridgelines has been one of the most emotionally charged issues to surface since the city’s incorporation in December, 1989.

The city staff is recommending that the council approve the Hillside Protection Ordinance, intended to minimize grading on steep hillsides, lessen the impact development would have on sensitive plants and animals and make sure development blends with the natural contours of the land.

Protection and Preservation Ordinance supported by more than 4,000 residents in a petition drive last year, the city-backed measure is not intended to preserve undeveloped ridgelines.

The measure detailed on the petitions would have prohibited development within 300 feet of hilltops. Many residents withdrew their support from that initiative after discovering that owners of individual vacant lots in largely developed communities, such as Bear Brand Ranch, might be prohibited from building on their property.

The council refused to approve that ordinance or put it before voters after deciding that it could constitute an illegal taking of property by rendering some land undevelopable. The resulting legal challenges would have put the city at serious financial risk, officials decided. That dispute must still be decided by the courts.

Paul Willems, who backed the tougher proposal, said he is disappointed in the package being considered by the council tonight.

“I think the Hillside Protection Ordinance now emphasizes the possibility of development rather than protecting the hillsides,” he said.