Thanks from Woman of the Year I...

Thanks from Woman of the Year

I would like to take this opportunity to thank the Women’s Club of

Laguna Beach for honoring me on June 6.

While I’m not sure I deserved it, there was no way that I was

going to turn it down. The lunch was delicious, the native plant

decorations were perfect and I just loved the wrist corsage. I want

to thank all those that took the time to attend and especially the

brave souls that shared their comments.

I recently read that the Oxford Dictionary was adding some new

words. In an effort to show that I try to keep up with the times, I

wanted to use some. The only problem is, they don’t seem to mean what

I want to say.

So I guess I’m just left with an old-fashioned thank you to one

and all who made this such a special day that I will never forget.

CAROLYN WOOD

Laguna Beach

El Moro arguments again unfounded

Although the State Parks Department has made a firm decision

finally to reclaim El Moro as a public park and campground, the

trailer tenants who have long rented this publicly owned land

continue their efforts to remain.

Their latest ploy is a public relations blitz in which a donation

was offered to environmental groups (refused) and affordable housing

units would be provided to the city of Laguna Beach. The housing

would be on the inland side of Coast Highway, and the trade-off would

be that beachfront tenants could keep and further extend their

leases. A bad idea, for many reasons.

The tenants do not own the property they are offering to Laguna.

It belongs to the state of California, meaning you and me and others

who cherish their rightful access to the ocean. And while everyone

agrees that Laguna needs low-cost housing, this is a problem which

must be solved by responsible local planning and community

participation, not by siphoning off public land and subverting its

proper use.

The tenants claim that the proposed campground would be unsafe for

nearby school children, but this is not corroborated by the facts.

The state’s campground record is excellent. Another statement, that

the project in underfunded, is also incorrect. Bond money has been

earmarked for the conversion.

The most important fact about El Moro is that like Crystal Cove,

it belongs to all of the people, not just a fortunate few. The

trailer tenants were allowed to live there at minimal cost for more

than 20, and now it’s time for them to make a graceful exit. For its

part, the city of Laguna Beach should stand aside and let the state

do its job.

BETTE ANDERSON

Laguna Beach

Is $33,000 a space really sound?

Can I possibly have heard right?

I was watching the City Council meeting on the telly Tuesday and I

thought I heard that it will cost more than $7 million (yes, that’s

$7 million) to replace the 210 parking places that will be lost when

the corporate yard moves to ACT V?

What kind of fiscal responsibility is that? Where are the

accountants now that we need them?

BONNIE HANO

Laguna Beach

Any means to ensure Downtown viability

Yet another beauty supply store is not what is needed Downtown.

Neither residents nor our preferred, upscale out-of-town customers

welcome another repetitive use. We want and need diversity in the

shopping experience, and the City Council is justified in using any

means at its disposal to ensure the Downtown remains prosperous and

attractive to residents.

Shopping malls do not have repetitive uses because managers know

that too many of one type of store does not appeal to shoppers. Ditto

with redeveloped historic downtowns that are managed by municipal

redevelopment agencies that carefully choose tenants and set rents.

In both those situations, someone is looking out for the welfare of

the whole.

Not so in Laguna where we have individual landlords seeking to

maximize their rents. Such landlord behavior in other beach and

tourist cities has resulted in shrinking customer bases, general

deterioration, vacancies and low rents. The only tool we have to

combat this is the use permit process, and the Planning Commission is

to be commended for deftly wielding its rightful authority to promote

a resident-friendly Downtown.

Perhaps this latest action will send a message to landlords that

they need to look at the whole of Downtown, not just their own

buildings. In the long run, landlords benefit too because a steady

base of upscale customers assures steady rental income.

KEN DELINO

President, Laguna Beach

Chamber of Commerce

The City Council was indeed right to require a chain operator to

undergo the use permit process at 272 Forest Avenue. It did not act

capriciously, but in a way that conformed to the rules it had already

laid down. Specifically, it had previously defined opening of a

“formula-based business” in the downtown to be a change of use

requiring the conditional-use process, and with two existing

branches, Mr. Sir’s business met the definition of a “formula-based

business.” City staff mistakenly ignored this requirement, advising

Sir that no permit would be required, and the City Council was right

in overriding them.

Since the Downtown Specific Plan limits Forest Avenue to primarily

visitor-serving uses, the Planning Commission was right to deny a

permit to a primarily resident-serving beauty supply operation there.

The goal of the Downtown Specific Plan is to make Laguna’s

downtown charming and interesting, with unique stores instead of the

same chain stores you see in every mall in America.

Unfortunately, the Downtown Specific Plan was poorly drafted, with

numerous major contradictions (for example, it strongly encourages

professional offices and artists live/work spaces on floors above the

ground floor, yet prohibits any new building greater than one story).

Its verbiage is so non-specific and fuzzy that it cannot easily be

interpreted with consistency. Many of its provisions make it more

difficult for the kind of businesses it allegedly encourages, rather

than nurture them, by guaranteeing that rents will climb steadily.

The Downtown Specific Plan needs a major overhaul, or preferably

rewriting from scratch. The issue of grand-fathering conditional-use

permits and in-lieu parking rights must be addressed, as will

effective methods to foster the kinds of businesses we all want in

our downtown. Grand-fathering use permits causes all sorts of goofy

things to happen: in Berkeley, landlords of spaces containing

restaurants will often only rent to new non-restaurant tenants if

they agree to serve food, so that they can keep the space

grand-fathered as a restaurant. Result: Some retailers have one stale

sandwich for sale, which nobody would dare buy.

In Laguna Beach, we should develop a list of uses for each area

with three columns:

* Green for desired uses which should be fast-tracked and given a

conditional-use permit administratively

* Yellow for acceptable uses, but which should be given scrutiny

through the conditional-use permit process

* Red for unacceptable uses

The conditional-use permit process, the legality of which several

lawyers have told me that they doubt could stand up to a court

challenge, also needs a major overhaul, both in its rules and its

administration.

Hopefully, the revivified Vision Committee will address the issues

above.

TOM AHERN

Newport Beach Owner,

Latitude 33 Bookshop

The Coastline Pilot is eager to run your letters. If your letter

does not appear, it may be because of space restrictions, and the

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