Dana Point Residents Are Fighting a Marriott Hotel’s Plan to Remove Nearly 70 Pines From a Harbor-View Park

The fight over the pines in Dana Point’s Lantern Bay Park started with a water line. While the Marriott resort above the park went through a roughly $60 million renovation, new water lines serving the hotel were run through part of the park, and the resort offered to pay for a park makeover in return. The first version of that makeover would have removed nearly 70 mature pines that shade the park and frame its view of the harbor.

Residents have pushed back hard, and the decision now heads to a public meeting in the park on Nov. 1 and a City Council vote on Nov. 17.

A water line, a renovation and a park makeover

The resort is Ocean Cliffs at Dana Point, a JW Marriott owned by Alagem Capital Group, according to the city’s staff report for the Oct. 6 council meeting. South Coast Water District installed the new lines, which it owns, inside a portion of the park. Ocean Cliffs agreed to design and build park improvements at its own cost, with the city taking ownership and maintenance once the work is accepted.

The conceptual plan included a native plant botanical garden, lighting and regrading at the Smyth Brothers Amphitheater, new walkways and crape myrtles along the Arbor Walk and Mosaic Stair Walk. It also called for removing the central grove of Italian stone pines and the row of Torrey pines along the walk to the amphitheater.

According to Voice of OC, the hotel’s goal was better harbor sightlines, because the pine canopies block views from its rooms. Marriott officials did not return the outlet’s calls.

What the arborist found

The staff report cites a Nov. 4, 2025, health assessment by West Coast Arborists. Of the 45 Torrey pines assessed, the arborist recommended removing two. Trees near the amphitheater showed bark beetle damage, dead and dying limbs and heavy resin flow, and lab testing was recommended to confirm the cause. The Torrey pines near the playground appeared healthy.

The stone pine grove was rated in satisfactory health. The report says its removal was proposed for design reasons, including blocked views and a poor match with the coastal sage setting, not because the trees were failing.

Each removed tree would have to be replaced with two new 24-inch box trees in the park or elsewhere in the city.

A city survey from Aug. 28 to Sept. 21 drew 75 responses. Most respondents visit the park daily or weekly, and on trees and landscaping, 52 percent preferred no change. Staff noted the survey was voluntary and self-selected.

4,778 signatures and a split council

The opposition is led by residents Gwendolyn Oxenham and Alex Katona. Katona told Voice of OC that the central issue is that Lantern Bay is a public park meant for residents. Oxenham said every neighbor has memories tied to the trees, and that the tree roots anchor the soil and help keep the bluff safe.

Their change.org petition, “Save the Trees at Lantern Bay Park,” had 4,778 verified signatures when checked this week. It asks the city to keep both the Torrey pines and the stone pines, slow the process for a more thorough review and carry out biological assessments before any removal. More than 150 public comments were submitted for the council’s first discussion.

On Oct. 6, a motion to move ahead with the removal and form a subcommittee failed, with three of the five council members opposed. Councilmember Jamey Federico and Mayor John Gabbard supported the plan as proposed, and Federico called the pine grove “a mess underneath it.” Councilmembers Mike Frost, Matthew Pagano and Michael Villar backed working on a plan that keeps the trees. Frost said he was not swayed by the idea that trees can never be cut, but was swayed by how much the shade is wanted. The council then formed a subcommittee to work with Marriott on an overhaul that saves them.

A rare pine on a Dana Point bluff

The Torrey pine is one of California’s rarest native trees. The Wikipedia entry for Pinus torreyana describes it as critically endangered, with wild populations on the San Diego County coast, including Torrey Pines State Natural Reserve, and on Santa Rosa Island. Estimates of the wild population fell from about 9,000 in the 1970s to about 3,000 by 2016. The species is widely planted as an ornamental in Southern California, and its listed threats include bark beetles, fire and drought.

Planted Torrey pines like the ones at Lantern Bay can grow much taller than their wild relatives, which typically reach 26 to 56 feet on the windswept coast.

Nov. 1 at the park, Nov. 17 at City Hall

The plan was pulled from the council’s Oct. 20 agenda. In its place, the council subcommittee will hold a public gathering in Lantern Bay Park at 10:30 a.m. on Sunday, Nov. 1, according to a city update. The update says the subcommittee has met with Marriott leadership and will recommend preserving all existing trees. That recommendation goes to the full council on Tuesday, Nov. 17.

Until the council votes, the original proposal remains the plan on paper, and the petition remains open. Other communities have faced similar fights this fall, including the Morgan Hill neighbors trying to save a coast live oak from a housing project.

Get stories like this by email. Sign up for The Parent Diaries Letter.

This article was produced with AI assistance and edited for accuracy against the sources linked above.

Image: Stch2022 – CC0/Wikimedia Commons