Treasure Island

Laguna Beach residents made a last-minute plea to the City Council on Tuesday to add more open space at the controversial Treasure Island resort, a development planned for a 30-acre bluff top in South Laguna. The council was set to vote on final approval for the project, but public comment on the issue continued into the night. The project is made up of a 275-room hotel, 17 houses, 14 condominiums, two restaurants and a bluff-top public park on a 30-acre site.

Christmas came early for about 50 homeless San Franciscans who settled into newly remodeled homes on Treasure Island this week. "It will be a wonderful Christmas," said Lorraine Williams-Watters, who had just picked up keys to the two-bedroom apartment she will share with her 19-year-old daughter and 2-year-old granddaughter.

With the passing of Measure A in Laguna Beach, a 275-room luxury resort and custom home area in Treasure Island will be developed for the rich to enjoy (April 28). Down Coast Highway a few miles, Crystal Cove State Park continues to fight for its life. This spectacular stretch of coastline and marine reserve is for the public's use and should remain that way. Being a California native, I have witnessed one high-rise development after another pop up along the coast. Crystal Cove is one of the few untouched areas along the beach left open to the public.

Now that voters have approved the project, construction of a luxury resort hotel and 34 homes on the Laguna Beach coast might be completed within three years, city officials said Wednesday. "The people have spoken, and the will of the people is absolutely clear," Laguna Beach Mayor Steve Dicterow said. Laguna Beach voters Tuesday approved the controversial Treasure Island development plan 55% to 45%.

Ending one of the most contentious political battles of the decade in Laguna Beach, the city's voters Tuesday gave a hearty endorsement to a controversial plan for a hotel and 31 homes at Treasure Island, the former site of a mobile-home park on prime beachfront property. "I'm elated," said Mayor Steve Dicterow who, along with a majority of the City Council, had earlier approved the development and vocally supported it. "This is a victory for the city of Laguna Beach.

The map you printed in your April 18 article on Treasure Island was provided by Merrill Lynch Hubbard [the property owner]. How green it looked, with open space and those small houses. Don't you think the public deserves a more accurate depiction of the development--one that shows almost 50% of the property designated for the 17 estate-size houses that can be up to 7,700 square feet each or the park that is little more than two acres running only 25 feet wide for much of its distance?

An aggressive campaign over plans to develop a rare piece of prime beachfront property is rocking the 24,000 residents of Laguna Beach. Measures A and B would make way for a resort community on the site of Treasure Island, a former mobile home park. Plans call for a 275-room hotel and 31 housing units on 30 acres. Supporters say the measure would provide a hotel with facilities that locals would use, as well as bring in money to the city and its schools.

Anywhere else it would be just a want ad. Here, it reads like a fairy tale--or a practical joke: Apartment for rent, two bedrooms, two baths, living room, dining room, garage, yard, storage, kitchen appliances, ample street parking, 180-degree water and city views, utilities included, pet OK. Yet it's true. More than 700 apartments on Treasure Island, a former naval base in the middle of San Francisco Bay, will hit the parched rental market at below-market rates over the next 18 months.