Men’s Club: November 2016 Update

This month the Men’s Club heard about the development of the Strands at the Headlands and celebrated a fun Fall Party. The Party featured Octoberfest Music, German beer, bratwurst cooked in beer, red cabbage, potato salad, apple crisp, and lots of dancing and laughter. Special thanks to all the helpers who planned, cooked, decorated, served and cleaned up for the party.
Our guest speaker on Oct 6 was Sanford Edward, the Project Developer of the Strand at the Headlands. Additional guests were Carol Finizza, the Marketing Director for the Strands Project, and Kristina Pritchett, News Editor for the Dana Point Times.
Mr. Edward gave an informative update on the history of the development and the planned hotel at the Headlands. He purchased the Strand property in 1998 from the Chandler family who were the majority holders of the LA Times and the owners of the Dana Strand Beach and Tennis Club, a mobile home community that closed in the 1980s. After lengthy negotiations and litigation with the City, multiple conservation groups, and the Coastal Commission, an agreement was reached that provided for 118 home lots, a 90-room hotel, and 1.6 acres of commercial development. Also, it provided for restoration of the Headlands into a conservation park which will remain undeveloped. The development also included a beach-front sidewalk, a linear park overlooking the Strand community and ocean, and the Veteran’s Memorial. Today, 6 of the 118 lots are unsold. The hotel is still being planned for the area across the road from the Chart House. The plan for the commercial development at the corner of PCH and Green Lantern includes an upscale restaurant, small inn, and possibly retail shops.
Sanford came prepared to answer our big questions: (1) What is that huge house being constructed on the beach next to the Strand Clubhouse? and, (2) Why are you and Dana Point suing each other?
Answers: (1) The large house is being built by one of our neighbors in the Strand who is in need of more space. (2) Yes, there are law suits between the City of Dana Point and his company. From Sanford’s view, the City has billed him at an unjustifiably high rate for lawyer fees that the City incurred in legal proceedings with the Coastal Commission involving the center beach access path at the Strand.
Obviously, the City has a differing view of history, which we will hear about in the future.
—Jerry Allen