LAGUNA BEACH : Road Foes Resolve to Block Grading

Determined that grading for the proposed San Joaquin Hills toll road will not be allowed west of El Toro Road before key legal and environmental issues are resolved, Laguna Beach environmentalists are forming a “vigilance committee” to keep bulldozers off the pristine hillsides that skirt their city.

A small group of environmentalists met Sunday to make plans for an “early warning and communication system” to sound the alert if earthmovers appear headed toward Laguna Canyon.

The group intends to set up a telephone line so motorists can report unusual activity in the area. If necessary, residents are preparing to physically block bulldozers while legal remedies are being pursued, said Norm Grossman, a member of Laguna Greenbelt Inc., one of several environmental groups suing to stop the tollway.

Environmentalists say they are acting in response to a recent push by toll road proponents to begin building a 4-mile stretch of the road before legal challenges to the corridor are resolved. Corridor supporters say that they will eventually prevail in court and that moving forward with that section will give South County some much-needed traffic relief.

“We’re trying to get a head start on constructing the first phase of the corridor or, in any event, to building a four-lane facility through Aliso Viejo,” said Mark Goodman, a spokesman for Supervisor Thomas F. Riley. “The county will continue to aggressively pursue construction of this roadway.”

Environmentalists say tollway proponents are simply trying to lay enough concrete so that the completion of entire corridor will eventually become inevitable.

Neither Goodman nor a spokesman for the Transportation Corridor Agencies, which is charged with building the toll road, would comment directly Monday on whether the land might be disturbed between El Toro and Laguna Canyon roads before the lawsuit is resolved.

“I can’t categorically state that,” Goodman said. “I’m not sure what all our options are in that area.”

The toll road is designed to run 15 miles, from Interstate 5 in San Juan Capistrano to the Corona del Mar Freeway in Newport Beach. The 4-mile strip would run from the Moulton Parkway/La Paz Road interchange to El Toro Road, Goodman said. Additional approvals are needed to connect the road to Laguna Canyon Road.

However, the corridor agency has approved a design option that could stretch the shorter road to Laguna Canyon Road.

Laguna Beach environmentalists say they fear a repeat of a 1987 incident involving grading of land east of El Toro Road. In that case, the city went to court to stop the earthmovers, but the judged ruled that the issue was moot because most of the grading was done by the time the case came before a judge.

With an “intelligence network” in place, environmentalists say they will be prepared this time. Phillips predicted that they will have little trouble generating support in the community.

“We have no doubt we can turn out as many people as we need to stop any illegal grading,” Phillips said. “We never worry about getting a crowd in Laguna Beach.”