EDITORIAL: A creek runs through it

There’s an opportunity for the entire community to get a guided tour Saturday of one of Laguna Beach’s most beautiful and complicated spots, the Aliso Creek Inn and golf course property.

Nestled in a gem-like canyon, the site has been operated as a public golf course, popular restaurant and park-like lodge for some 50 years. Athens Group, which built the luxurious Montage Resort & Spa nearby, is planning to redevelop the site with new resort amenities and estate homes, and to replace the nine-hole golf course but not expand its size.

The development firm promises to earmark about 250 acres of open space and to create a long-sought hiking trail linking Laguna Beach with trails to the east.

It’s a beautiful spot but also one that has its share of problems — primarily the polluted and often inundated Aliso Creek that runs through it.

Athens is proposing to tame the creek by recontouring the bank on each side and rebuilding the streambed with materials that hopefully won’t degrade too quickly. Aliso Creek is a wonderful recreation spot for hiking and biking. Restoring and opening it up to the public will be a huge step forward for Laguna.

But the devil is in the details and we have heard many suspicions raised about exactly how this creek will be “restored.” Some folks apparently think it will be buried underground or encased in ugly concrete, but we find nothing in the documentation that indicates this.

That’s why it’s so important for people who are concerned about the future of Aliso Creek and its surroundings to take advantage of the opportunity to see it firsthand and get a good idea of the challenges the developer faces and how they could be met.

This project will be scrutinized by the community, the city and the California Coastal Commission, but it behooves the local community to find out as much as possible about it early in the process, so decisions can be made that preserve and protect the creek and its surroundings, and also allow the aging property to be improved and upgraded for the next century.

The open house starts at 2 p.m. and ends at 5 p.m. at 31106 Coast Highway. Parking is available at the site and at the Aliso Creek beach parking lot, a bit of an uphill hike to the site. Information about the project is posted on the city website, www.lagunabeachcity.net.