Montage spreads its empire

Barbara Diamond

Montage Resort and Spa has bought the old Unocal Service Station

across Coast Highway from the Esslinger Trust for employee parking.

A Planning Commission hearing on a conditional use permit is

scheduled for Dec. 15.

Driftwood and Hobo Canyon Neighborhood Assn. founder Penny Elia

announced at the Nov. 16 council meeting that Montage had also

purchased Chabad Jewish Center, the Reef Inn and the Prudential Real

Estate offices at the back of the northern entrance to Aliso Creek

Shopping Center.

“We do not comment on potential real estate acquisitions,� Montage

spokeswoman Carole Hoffman said. “But we do not have any contacts on

any of those properties.

“We have simply filed an application for employee parking in

keeping with our commitment to the city.�

Prudential’s Orange County vice president and general manager said

no one has contacted him about a sale of his company’s offices in the

shopping center. To be on the safe side, he checked with the

company’s legal advisors, who also reported no contacts.

“We have a lease through January of ‘09,� Chapman said.

The purchase of the parking lot adds to the resort’s real estate

holdings, which include a parcel known as Driftwood Estates, also

formerly owned by the Esslinger Trust, and Aliso Creek Golf Course,

which is in the county’s jurisdiction.

Rumors have been swirled about development plans for the golf

course, but Montage representatives have said there are no specific

plans are on the table. Reports of meetings between the county and

the resort have been published, describing a plan to expand the golf

course into the open space and build homes on the perimeter.

“I question the propriety of publishing information without

confirmation from the principal source,� Hoffman said.

Councilman Steve Dicterow wants to form a council sub-committee to

try gain a seat at the table with resort and county officials.

“I’ve been reading a lot about Montage and I don’t have any idea

of what’s going on,� Dicterow said. “I don’t want a fully formed

project coming in front of us. I think we should be informed.�

No question, Montage has made its presence known, both inside and

outside of town.

Montage was named the number two resort in the United States and

number one on the West Coast by the voters in Conde Nast Traveler’s

annual Reader’s Choice Poll in the resorts first year of eligibility.

The poll results were announced in October.

“[That] truly puts Montage Resort and Spa in a class by itself,�

Traveler Editor in Chief Tom Wallace said.

Montage also has been recognized in “Robb Report’s Best of the

Best Resorts,� “Gallivanters Guide’s 2003 Best New Hotel/Resort

Discovery� and “Andrew Harper’s Hideaway Report’s Top 20 U.S. Resort

Hotels.�

Despite the kudos, neighbors and some city officials had been

highly critical of the resort for parking impacts in surrounding

areas and of the city’s environmental impact study, which they

claimed was flawed.

Parking needs were calculated by a consultant for the

environmental impact report. The parking demand due to the popularity

of Treasure Island Park and the number of employees the establishment

would hire in its quest for recognition as a Four Star and Five

Diamond resort was not anticipated.

Montage is the first luxury hotel to open in Laguna since Surf and

Sand. It competes with the Ritz-Carlton and St. Regis in Dana Point,

with probably more to come on the other side of town.

The Orange County Planning Commission is considering some changes

to the Newport Coast coastal permits that could restructure the

visitor-serving uses to allow 120 timeshare casitas and a 200-room

resort hotel, according to a Nov. 4 memo from City Manager Ken Frank

to the council.

REWIRED

The City Council sent an established Cingular wireless phone and

accessory store back to the Planning Commission for modifications to

a proposal for a new location.

Owner Mohammad Honarkar was advised by Councilwoman Elizabeth

Pearson to reconsider his sign, which showcases Cingular rather than

the company name, GSL Wireless. Pearson and Councilwoman Toni Iseman

opposed the generic Cingular sign because of the location of the new

store at the prominent corner of Broadway and Forest Avenue.

The Planning Commission denied Honarkar a conditional use permit

for the site on a 3 to 2 vote. The commission majority said it could

not make the required findings that the store would enhance the

destination quality, or the look and feel -- the character -- of the

Downtown.

City officials strive to keep the Downtown free of stores that can

be found in any mall.

Councilwoman Toni Iseman upheld the commission’s denial, but was

outvoted 4 to 1 and the commission will take another crack at the

project.

Honarkar first opened his wireless store on Broadway. He later

moved it to Glenneyre Street, next to the Circle K, which didn’t work

out well because of delivery trucks.

When Honarkar learned that the bicycle shop across from the

Lumberyard Parking Lot was going out of business he decided to move

again and signed a lease before he had city approval to operate

there.

In his presentation to the commission Honarkar said 45% of his

business was local, the rest was tourist-serving.

However, in his appeal of the commission’s denial, Honarkar stated

that 70 percent of his business was local and 30 percent for

tourists.

Honarkar is also a partner in the recently purchased Jolly Roger

and the Laguna Beach Brewing Co.

* DOING BUSINESS is a periodic feature of the Laguna Beach

Coastline Pilot. Contributions are welcomed. Mail to Barbara Diamond,

P.O. Box 248, Laguna Beach, 92652; fax to (949) 494-8979;

hand-deliver to 384 Forest Ave., Suite 22; or call (949) 494-4321.