South County : Coast Panel Due to Vote on Laguna Plan Today

Laguna Beach’s land-use plan will come before the Coastal Commission today for a public hearing and a vote.

Praveen Gupta, a lead planner at the commission’s Long Beach office, said the commission is expected to vote against the plan, but if Laguna Beach makes some recommended revisions, the commission may approve it at a later date.

Gupta said the city’s plan does not allow enough public beach access, insufficiently protects ocean views in some places and does not clearly spell out intensity of development in the 4.8-square-mile area that falls within the commission’s jurisdiction.

Also coming up for commission approval at its meeting in El Segundo will be a request by a Newport Beach developer to subdivide a 30-acre parcel in South Laguna for custom home lots. If the commission agrees to the request, Monarch Point Ltd. would be able to divide the parcel into 42 custom lots.

According to Chris Weber, a spokesman for the civil engineering firm hired by the developer, grading can begin by next month and should be completed by fall.