From Canyon To Cove: Free parkland may not be the best gift

The prospect of wildfires and flooding from the four streams may also be a factor in the public agencies' attitude of "not so fast."

Adding another undertone to the saga, the Driftwood story is being played out as signatures are being collected for a Laguna Beach open space initiative, which would tax Laguna Beach property owners a flat $120 a year to raise $20 million to fund parkland purchases. The tax would require a two-thirds vote to be approved.

It makes one wonder: If the public agencies and parkland organizations aren't interested in acquiring free land, what are the initiative proponents planning to buy with the public's money, should the initiative qualify and be approved?

It turns out that the initiative might be Driftwood's salvation.

Elisabeth Brown, president of Laguna Greenbelt Inc., one of the sponsors of the initiative, said that at least some of this parcel would definitely qualify for acquisition under the tax measure because it is within the city limits. The "wilderness" areas would certainly be of interest to the group, but the "degraded" portions, where the housing pads are, might not be on the acquisition list.

"It's a lovely piece of land, with marvelous maritime chaparral. Steep, but that's the terrain around here. A few acres are recovering from old grading, but there's a great diversity of native plants and only a few kinds of non-native weeds," Brown said in an email. And best of all — it's free.

So there might well be hiking in store at Driftwood sometime in the future. The initiative sponsors are apparently waiting for the right moment to submit the signatures and get the measure on the ballot.

CINDY FRAZIER is city editor of the Coastline Pilot. She can be contacted at (949) 302-1469, @cindyfrazier1 or cindy.frazier@latimes.com.