Leash law needs better enforcement I learned...

Leash law needs better enforcement

I learned today that the only way Laguna Beach animal control

officers can cite owners for disregarding the leash law is if they

witness it directly. That means if the officer on patrol happens to

see a dog off leash, a ticket can be issued. However, if a dog with

no leash poses a threat to a person or other animal and no officer is

there to witness it, nothing can be done unless the victim wants to

file a lawsuit.

So, for example, if one of our neighbors has her very friendly,

well-behaved dog follow her to the mailbox off leash as a patrol

drives by, she can get a big ticket. If however, as I experienced

today, I am walking my dog on leash around the block from my house

and a construction worker at a building site has two pit bull mixes

off leash and they run across the street and attack my dog and I put

myself at risk (seven months pregnant) to fight them off, the best

animal control can do is give the owner a stern talking-to.

If I had been bitten, there would be repercussions. I wasn’t. I

was strong enough to kick the attacking dogs away, but not before

they got a good bite of my dog’s face. My dog was injured. I was at

risk. An objective third party driving by witnessed the whole

incident and called the police.

I appreciate that the officer did his best and delivered the

lecture and the law to this errant pet owner. However, I strongly

believe that the law should allow for some kind of citation in such

an incident. It seems to me that in the interest of public safety,

when an incident of violence results from a dog being off leash, the

owner should bear responsibility. It should not be left to the civil

courts to punish such irresponsibility.

My dog is a rescued dog we adopted from a shelter last year. At

the time she was both fearful and aggressive around other dogs, most

likely resulting from an attack earlier in her life. We have been

working diligently and she has made tremendous progress. This

incident will likely set her back many months.

I don’t disagree with all the air time spent lamenting the

irresponsible pet owners who don’t clean up the dog waste (we do).

But this disregard for laws and public safety goes deeper. Pet owners

have a responsibility to their pets as well as to the community of

people and pets around them.

MELINA D. FRIEDMAN

Laguna Beach

Fire prevention video needed more

I was so excited when I saw the packaging of the video mailed (I

hope to each homeowner in town) and what it purported to do. Nicely

done, however, some things I found lacking and interesting include:

No mention of how to plant things away from the home.

List of plants that are not good for this area, eucalyptus, pine,

pampas grass, etc.

Encourage people to trim, trim and more trim.

Clear and cut away dead vegetations (it seems some people in

Laguna cannot face reality when a plant, especially a tree, dies). I

have seen the same dead trees in yards (including on city property)

for years.

Be sure to consider view preservation when planting. Some people

plant things and then the plants grow fast and tall and out of

control and then they can’t afford to keep them maintained. This is

especially true with eucalyptus -- no longer a plant du jour I hope

with the changes in architecture -- Mediterranean.

I applaud the intent. This could have been an ideal opportunity to

really put teeth into our problem of water and vegetation. However,

with certain groups of people who run the city (covertly and overtly)

I assume that this was as far as it could go.

It was the trees that fueled much of the flames and made it easy

for the burning embers to reach their mark, rooftops and other trees.

Trenching only helps to stop the ground fires -- you cannot trench

the air to keep embers from flying.

What I found interesting was that the city’s front yard is not

following suit and taking the advice of the water district right next

door.

GANKA BROWN

Laguna Beach

Sewer inspections advice was sound

My congratulations to James S. McBride, Jr. for his letter on

“Advice on sewer lateral inspections,” (Coastline Pilot, Feb. 6)

His suggestions seemed to cover all aspects of the problem in ways

that help to remove the sting out of individual financing.

NORMA BAILIE

Laguna Beach

Parcel shouldn’t be covered by asphalt

When is enough, enough?

Don’t the Esslingers have enough money?

Do they have that little regard for future generations that they

want to cover every acre with asphalt? Think how nice a park or

hiking trails would be -- homes for all the little animals that live

up there, endangered habitat and the education that a child gets from

“up close and personal.”

Hopefully some conservation group will come up with the money to

buy the parcel. We can only hope.

SUE MILLER

Laguna Beach

Have some respect for the view we love

The property values in Laguna are skyrocketing. Only the affluent

can purchase property. With the affluent comes “big is better” and a

“jungle” is OK. We all have one thing in common, view and small town

atmosphere.

What has happened to the golden rule? “Do unto others as you would

like other to do unto you?” People are purchasing land to build the

largest and most beautiful homes without consideration to others. Old

and charming homes are being remodeled before the new owners move in

and enjoy the charm. Laguna architects will follow every whim of

their new client without considering the views of others forcing our

city to use a Design Review Board and the City Council to be the

referees.

This scenario is happening to us. We have lived in South Laguna

more than 10 years in “Coast Royale” and have so enjoyed our

white-water view from the patio of our historic “Water Tank” home.

The tank was built in 1926 and converted into a home in 1961.

Unfortunately new buyers, who have never lived in the home, are

trying to raise the roof line that effectively destroys our beach and

wave view to get a Cape Cod look. An architect following the whim of

his client presented a design that raises the roof 6 feet without any

consideration to our view and presented this to the Design Review

Board.

The Design Review Board disagreed with the first attempt but

agreed with the second attempt that still raises the roof 3.5 feet,

giving us back the rocks and cliffs but not the beach and waves.

It is hard for us to accept the loss of our view so the interior

of their house can have a higher ceiling.

The city adopted an ordinance for view equity. This has a

subjective interpretation that has no definition. We do not feel that

this rule has been properly used by exchanging volume and height for

white water view.

Not only do we have to appeal the Design Review Board decision,

but we are subjected to fees that can’t be recovered.

We have spent so much time, worry, effort and money over this, to

say nothing of the stress involved, that we feel we are fighting for

our lives.

The awful truth is, we are facing a “triple whammy” due to the

fact that we also have to go through the “hedge height ordinance”

because of the neighbors who live next door to this proposal refuse

to trim their hedges that reach 10- to 12-feet high and are planting

more and more trees. The hedge ordinance stipulates that hedges are

only to be four foot maximum. Again, we have to fight for our view. A

300-foot radius map has to be prepared and a city fee has to be paid.

What is the purpose of an ordinance that does not have a method to

recover your costs without suing your neighbor? We are now starting

this process.

Sure we are crying. Like everyone else, we moved to Laguna for the

view and small-town atmosphere. It is unfortunate that the “Golden

Rule” no longer has any place in our society -- a society that is

based on me, me, me, money, money, money and sue, sue, sue. Somewhere

this has to stop!

Anyone who has gone through this, or is about to as we are, or who

is concerned about the future of “your view”, is welcome to come join

us at our City Council meeting at 7:30 p.m. Tuesday. We would welcome

any fellow homeowners who want to protect their view equity and we

would welcome your support.

DON AND SHARON KOMOROUS

Laguna Beach

ACT V proposal is a health hazard

I am opposed to the transfer of the corporate yard to ACT V for

several reasons including: 1) Poor visual aesthetics; 2) Limited

accessibility in the event of a fire; and 3) Less accessibility to

the shuttle program and less overall parking availability.

You don’t have to be an environmentalist or a community juggernaut

to realize that this move is going to be an upcoming, expensive,

health and safety problem for this community.

The Liquid Underground Storage Tanks that the city plans on

installing at ACT V are a major source of water pollution. This is

one of the primary reasons California needs to beg, borrow and steal

for its water. It’s not that we don’t have any, its just that ours is

no longer drinkable, due to contaminants like the MTBE (methyl

tertiary butyl ether) -- the infamous gasoline additive -- along with

numerous other gasoline additives such as benzene etc.

Where it appears that California has some of the most stringent

environmental laws, California also has one of the worst reputations

for enforcing and regulating them, as noted in the state auditor

report from Dec. 17, 1998.

So what happens if one of these tanks at ACT V leaks? Which

historically, leaking has been the norm. Since the water table in

this area is close to the surface, the gasoline will contaminate a

large area surrounding the site and work its way toward town. The

state has taken measures to address these problems, like phasing out

MTBE and instituting the underground storage tank program. However,

there continues to be many other additives that go unregulated and

despite all the reporting and management strategies, fixing these

contaminated sites continues to elude our capabilities.

The city is about to irreparably damage one of our town’s most

prized gems along with the creation of a major health hazard. Given

the type of facility a Corporate Yard is, the current level of

reliability and accountability maintained with these types of

facilities, nestling it in the middle of the Greenbelt doesn’t seem

like a sensible move. This move appears compulsive compared to the

extensive planning that went into the Village Entrance project and

inconsistent with the vision process. Encourage the city to exercise

the alternatives to placing the Corporate Yard at ACT V.

DEBBIE HERTZ

Laguna Beach

Coming home was a true treat

I recently returned to Laguna to celebrate my 70th birthday. I

visited my old haunts, ate at my favorite restaurants, shopped on

Forest Avenue, visited old friends and tried to remember some of my

many years living in Laguna.

Many thanks to all of my friends who helped me celebrate my 70th.

Although I live in Colorado, my heart remains in Laguna.

MARTHA COLLISON

Former mayor and

council member

Laguna resident 1968-1992

El Toro could solve the noise issue

There are better solutions to stopping noise from John Wayne

Airport jets climbing out over Laguna Beach than those proposed by

Don Knapp,

(“Stop the jet noise now,” Coastline Pilot, Jan. 30.) It is not

altitude that makes noise, it is the engines of airplanes that

disrupt tranquillity. It would be better for Knapp and the City

Council to ask for less power.

But the irony of this new departure pattern, with noise and

pollution to a new city, is that the planned El Toro International

Airport will eliminate the departure. The noise factor will no longer

be a danger to property values and quality of life in Laguna Beach.

Laguna Beach should lobby the Federal Aviation Administration to

open the planned El Toro International Airport. It has fuel-saving

crossed runways pointing to where airplanes need to go. No one is in

the noise zone of the planned El Toro International Airport. This

will solve aviation problems without creating new ones. Laguna can

help turn on the lights.

DONALD NYRE

Newport Beach

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

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

letter will likely appear next week. If you would like to submit a

letter, write to us at P.O. Box 248, Laguna Beach, CA 92652; fax us

at (949) 494-8979; or send e-mail to [email protected].

Please give your name and include your hometown and phone number, for

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