Lantern Bay Park's Redesign Spares the Lawns and Rebuilds the Amphitheater. The Stone Pines Are the Open Question.

Go into Lantern Bay Park from Park Lantern and the first thing you pass is a close row of Torrey pines along the walk down to the Smyth Brothers Amphitheater. Farther in, a grove of Italian stone pines stands in the middle of the lawn. They were planted at about four feet tall, and today they rise between the grass and the harbor. Under the redesign now before the Dana Point City Council, both stands of pines would come out.

Most of the rest of the plan stays clear of the parts of the park that see daily use. The lawns, the Mosaic Walk, the bocce court, the restrooms, the playground and the trees around it, and the patch of grass used for yoga would all stay as they are. The project's biggest investment goes to the north end and to the amphitheater, which the city's own survey shows most regular visitors never use. For someone who walks the bluff every morning, the stone pine grove is the change that matters most.

Who Answered the City's Survey, and What They Do There

From August 28 through September 21, 2026, the city ran the Lantern Bay Park Improvement Survey, advertised on signs at six spots in the park. It got 75 responses. The same method at Sea Terrace Park over a similar stretch drew more than 250, and staff read the gap as a sign that the areas slated for change are lightly used.

The people who did answer visit often. Sixty-one of the 75 come daily or weekly, and 60 percent live in Dana Point, Capistrano Beach included. Here is what they said they do, according to the city staff report for the Oct. 6, 2026 meeting:

The table carries the whole argument. The top request was more shade, seating and water. A botanical garden ranked third. The amphitheater, which gets the deepest rework in the plan, is a place nearly two-thirds of these regulars say they never go.

Where the Plan Puts Its Effort

The amphitheater has history behind it. The Smyth Brothers, who developed the surrounding land, donated the park and the amphitheater along with a $500,000 maintenance fund. The park was dedicated to the County of Orange in 1983 and passed to the City of Dana Point in 2006. Staff say the amphitheater was once a popular place for weddings, and that rentals there have fallen off sharply over the last five years as it slipped into disrepair. That decline explains why the plan centers on it.

Burton Landscape Architecture Studio, working for the resort, designed the plan and submitted a schematic package to the city on August 25, 2026. It has five main pieces:

• A botanical garden on the north end of the park, billed as Dana Point's first free public botanical garden. Planted beds would be linked by decomposed granite paths, with benches, botanical name signs and 24-inch box crape myrtles. The plant list includes Dana Point Buckwheat, California Brittlebush, Sticky Monkeyflower and California Coffee Berry, all chosen to draw Monarch butterflies, bees and hummingbirds.
• The Smyth Brothers Amphitheater, regraded flush with the walk next to it and replanted with turf so the whole venue is accessible. It would also get new finishes, lighting, wayfinding signs and planted slopes, all aimed at wedding ceremonies and small gatherings.
• An Arbor Walk on the approach to the amphitheater, framed by a wood trellis with climbing roses and specimen crape myrtles. The pines along this walk would be replaced with trees sized for the space.
• A new path to Stairwave, a tree-lined concrete walk running from the boulder entry at the Dana Point Harbor Drive stairs to the botanical garden.
• New connections, including a decomposed granite trail along the north edge of the park out to Golden Lantern and a concrete walkway linking the Ocean Cliffs event lawn to the park.

Two of those pieces do serve everyday visitors. Stairwave, Mia Tavonatti's mosaic of ceramic and fused glass, covers 118 steps and opened on August 16, 2023, as the OC Register reported. A direct path to it, plus a trail to Golden Lantern, would add new loops for the walkers and dog owners who answered the survey. The garden also fits a park that already hosted Monarch Butterfly Habitat Day on February 28 this year.

Two Stands of Pines, Removed for Two Different Reasons

The tree question splits in two. West Coast Arborists, the city's tree contractor, assessed the park's pines on November 4, 2025. The Torrey pines between Park Lantern and the amphitheater were the main concern. Several near the amphitheater have bark beetles, dead limbs and heavy resin flow, which the arborist reads as a likely sign of disease, possibly pitch canker. Of the 45 Torrey pines checked, two have declined enough that they should come out whether or not the project goes ahead, and the arborist recommends lab testing on the others. The Torrey pines on the east side near the playground look healthy and would stay.

The Italian stone pine grove is a different case. The arborist found it in satisfactory health, and its removal is proposed "for design reasons rather than tree health." Staff say the trees have outgrown the space, block coastal views and do not match the coastal sage scrub around the park.

Most of the public comment centered on that grove. On Oct. 6, the Dana Point Times reported, several residents asked the council to approve the improvements without cutting healthy trees, and the council split. According to that report, Councilmember Matthew Pagano held to the position he took when the park came up in November 2025, while Councilmember Jamey Federico argued for the redesign:

"No one likes change, but I actually think it will be better." — Councilmember Jamey Federico, as reported by the Dana Point Times

Councilmember Michael Villar moved to postpone, Mayor Pro Tem Mike Frost seconded, and Pagano and Frost were sent to work with the resort on options that would keep more trees. Federico voted against the delay, and Mayor John Gabbard said he expected the council would probably land in the same place. Pagano said that if the council were "told very soberly that this is the best way to do it," he would support it at the next meeting.

City policy calls for two new trees for every city tree removed. Staff told the council the current design does not meet that ratio inside the park, so some replacements could go elsewhere in Dana Point. In a park where 72 percent of survey respondents asked for more shade, the shade that matters to a regular depends on where those replacement trees end up.

The Resort Next Door Sets the Schedule

The park plan is tied to a bigger project. The former Laguna Cliffs Marriott is in the middle of a renovation the city puts at about $60 million. As part of that work, South Coast Water District laid new water lines through part of the park to serve the resort. In exchange, the resort agreed to pay for and build the park improvements. The city would pay nothing for design or construction and would take on ongoing maintenance.

In September, Aimbridge Hospitality announced that the property will become The Ocean Cliffs at Dana Point, a JW Marriott Resort. The plans include a new central pool, a larger event lawn of several acres moved beside the Richard Henry Dana Ballroom, and a new 6,000-square-foot ballroom. That relocated event lawn is the one the new park walkway would connect to. The Orange County Business Journal reported that the resort's two new dining concepts, a casual poolside spot in the former Lantern's Edge space and a full-service restaurant near the lobby with an oceanfront balcony, will be named by the end of 2026. Travel Weekly put the completion target at early 2027.

The park itself has no fixed start date. The original agreement attached to the city's Oct. 6 staff report estimated construction would begin in the fourth quarter of 2026. The revised agreement dropped that estimate and instead requires the resort to give the city at least ten business days' notice before work starts.

What to Watch From Here

The proposal was scheduled to return to the council on Tuesday, Oct. 20. The city posts the record of that meeting on its agendas and minutes page. If you use the park every week, these are the details that will change your routine:

1. Whether the stone pine grove stays. That was the point Pagano and Frost were sent to work through with the resort.
2. Where the replacement trees go. Under the two-for-one policy, they could be planted in the park or elsewhere in the city.
3. The ten business days' notice. Once the agreement is final, the resort owes the city at least that much notice before construction starts on the north end and around the amphitheater.
4. Morning yoga. The yoga area is outside the work zone. iHeartYoga, which runs Yoga in the Park, lists daily classes at $15 with preregistration required.

If you live near Lantern Bay Park and want to know how a botanical garden, a new trail to Golden Lantern or a rebranded JW Marriott next door could shape your corner of Dana Point, Kira Nimmer-Crabel follows these local decisions closely and is glad to talk them through. Schedule a consultation and we'll go over it with your street in mind.