Overview
About San Marin
San Marin covers 72.2 acres in three pieces and holds 202 addresses on 227 parcels, at a median lot of 0.149 acres. Nine named streets run 1.43 miles inside the boundary and all of them look to the water: Blue Horizon, White Sail, Faire Winds, Tidemark, Springtide, Paradise Cove, High Bluff, Pacifico and East Shore. The city's zoning layer splits the ground almost exactly in half, 31.5 acres to Single Family District 3 and 31 acres to open space.
The ground is low and even, running from 211 feet to 357 feet, and every parcel inside drains to Salt Creek. The 2025 fire hazard layer rates 68.2 of the 72.2 acres NonWildland, with 3.3 acres Moderate and 0.6 acres High, and the city records no fuel modification requirement on any parcel. The city's Open Space Inventory covers 30.9 acres inside the boundary, all of it recorded as landscaped or maintained vegetation, which matches what the association's own row describes as slopes.
View available homes in San MarinHistory
How San Marin was built
Every street in San Marin looks at the water: Blue Horizon, White Sail, Faire Winds, Tidemark, Springtide, Paradise Cove, High Bluff, Pacifico and East Shore. The build was tight, with the city's record running from 1989 to 1997 and a median of 1992.
The Laguna Niguel Corporation, formed by Cabot, Cabot & Forbes and Paine Webber, hired the Viennese architect Victor Gruen to plan a town of 7,100 acres, reserving close to a third of the developable land as parks and open space. San Marin still shows it: the city's zoning layer gives 31.5 acres to housing and 31 acres to open space, and the Open Space Inventory records all of that as landscaped or maintained vegetation.
By the Numbers
San Marin by the numbers
Lifestyle
The San Marin lifestyle
Schools
Schools serving San Marin
Capistrano Unified serves San Marin. The district's locator was probed at five addresses inside the boundary and returned John Malcom Elementary, Niguel Hills Middle and Dana Hills High at every one. The city's own elementary boundary layer agrees, placing the whole 72.2 acres in the John S. Malcolm attendance area.
9-12 · 1,725 students
6-8 · 693 students
K-5 · 553 students
FAQs
Common questions about San Marin
How big is San Marin?
The City of Laguna Niguel draws San Marin in three pieces totaling 72.2 acres. The city's address layer records 202 addresses inside them and the parcel layer 227 parcels, at a median lot of 0.149 acres.
When was San Marin built?
Its tract maps were recorded in December 1989 and July 1990, straddling the city's incorporation. The city's parcel layer dates 202 parcels here between 1989 and 1997, with 201 of them in the 1990s and 1994 the busiest year at 52.
Is San Marin gated?
No. The city's HOA zoning lookup records San Marin Association as not gated with public streets, and lists 202 units.
What does the San Marin association maintain?
The city records slopes for this association. The Open Space Inventory covers 30.9 acres inside the boundary, all of it landscaped or maintained vegetation, which is the ground that description points to.
Is San Marin in a fire hazard zone?
Barely. The 2025 fire hazard severity layer rates 68.2 of the 72.2 acres NonWildland, with 3.3 acres Moderate and 0.6 acres High, and the city records no fuel modification requirement on any parcel inside the boundary.