District Will Try to Condemn Land in Laguna for Reservoir

Responding to the city’s refusal this week to rezone a hilltop parcel for use as a reservoir, the water district board voted unanimously Thursday to attempt to claim the vacant land through condemnation.

The Laguna Beach County Water District had hoped to win the zone change from the City Council on Tuesday and eventually buy the approximately three-acre parcel from the city, but it could not muster the necessary three council votes.

District General Manager Joe Sovella defended the agency’s action, saying water districts can claim city property through eminent domain when the taking is based on “public health and safety and higher need.” If the district acquires the land through condemnation, it will not have to adhere to city zoning regulations, he said.

But City Atty. Philip Kohn said the district may not prevail because a court could decide the public would be better served by allowing the land to remain undeveloped, he said.

“There is a presumption in state law that the highest use of public property includes parks, recreation and open space,” Kohn said. “If the city were to argue that point, I don’t think it’s a slam-dunk that the water district” will prevail.

The proposed reservoir site is a knoll at the end of Alta Laguna Boulevard next to Alta Laguna Park in an area now set aside as open space.

Water officials say the 3-million-gallon reservoir, along with two pump stations and pipelines, are needed to provide fire protection and emergency water storage. Because the site is in an elevated area--called the Top of the World--it would provide a valuable water source should mechanical or electrical pumping fail, they say.

Councilman Wayne L. Peterson, who voted in favor of the zone change, expressed frustration that the city and the district have not reached an agreement.

“It seems senseless to me than an elected board within the city of Laguna Beach would be brought to the point where they would condemn property because we refuse to negotiate with them,” Peterson said.

To gauge public support for the project, last spring the water district polled its customers. Of the 32% who responded to the survey, 92% favored the project, Sovella said.

But a vocal group of residents, including members of Village Laguna, the city’s most powerful political group, oppose putting the reservoir at the proposed site, saying it is too environmentally sensitive.

“The biology is so important up there,” said Village Laguna President Johanna Felder, who lives in the Top of the World area.