Laguna Beach Ca Development And Redevelopment

A controversial plan to build a three-bedroom house inside a huge boulder on the beach in South Laguna won unanimous approval Thursday from the California Coastal Commission, the plan's final hurdle. The project, the brainchild of Newport Beach architect Brion Jeannette, calls for the rock to be scooped out like a pumpkin and a 2,800-square-foot home to be built inside.

The Irvine Co. on Thursday ran into another snag in its effort to build homes above Crystal Cove State Park--a recommendation from staff of a state environmental agency that the controversial project be denied a key permit. In a new report, the staff of the California Coastal Commission recommended that the board next month deny a development permit for 635 homes in the project. Construction already has begun on a separate section of the project along Pacific Coast Highway.