Laguna Niguel council denies appeal, upholds permit for El Niguel Country Club maintenance-yard renovation

Laguna Niguel, Calif. — The Laguna Niguel City Council voted 5-0 Thursday to deny an appeal of the Planning Commission—s approval of a site development permit amendment for El Niguel Country Club, upholding the commission—s decision to allow replacement of two aging maintenance buildings.

The decision follows staff findings that the project would replace structures more than 60 years old with modern metal buildings that include automatic fire sprinklers, and that construction traffic would be routed from Clubhouse Drive rather than a 10-foot private easement that provides operational access to the maintenance yard. Associate Planner Daniel Keswick Bajian told the council staff recommended adopting Resolution No. 2025-1518 to deny the appeal and uphold the Planning Commission—s approval of SP 96-37 A01.

The appeal, filed on Oct. 27, 2025 by the Paseo Street Safety Coalition and presented at the hearing by Tisha Holbert, alleged gaps in the administrative record and raised specific safety and procedural concerns, including the absence of a turning-radius or fire-flow analysis, a geotechnical review described in some materials as "not…