There is no need for the view...

There is no need for the view ordinance

Right on and thank you Yvonne Meredith for your letter about the

group of people trying to push through a view ordinance. (“Group’s

goals are so un-Laguna,” Coastline Pilot, March 12)

Several years ago I tried to express similar thoughts as yours

regarding trees and the birds they attract to Laguna Beach. There is

a big sign at Main Beach proclaiming that Laguna Beach is a bird

sanctuary. And why? Because we have a lot more trees in our quaint

neighborhoods than a lot of other cities. The wonderful trees in

Laguna help to hive our town its unique nature. People have been

trying to push this view ordinance down our throats for several years

now, and I gave up writing letters.

As I walk around the neighborhoods of Laguna, I don’t see the

problem with trees that he seems to feel the need to push a litigious

solution on the rest of us over. I challenge proponents to show us

one property owner whose property has declined in value because of

the view problem. It simply is a problem that doesn’t exist and any

problems about vegetation should be solved between the neighbors

involved.

Why do we have to have a law about everything? Any other bird

lovers out there who feel the trees and the birds are fine just the

way they are? Dave Connell says that the beaches and the views are

the two main treasures of Laguna (“Working to protect Laguna’s

treasures,” Coastline Pilot, March 12). Well, that is his opinion and

yet he states it like fact. What gives him the right to speak for all

of us?

How many residents of Laguna really support the need for a view

ordinance? If most do not, then it should be left alone and those

involved should work it out among themselves.

I think the trees and the birds are also treasures of Laguna, but

if it were up to Connell trees would go for supposed views.

Don’t let Connell speak for the rest of us. No view ordinance.

Leave it alone.

STAR HOWARD

Laguna Beach

Thank you for the warm welcome

I express great gratitude at the welcoming reception given to

those of us who walked for peace in the Patriots Day Parade. It was

heartwarming to me and brought tears to my eyes to express that peace

is patriotic.

KATHIE REYNOLDS HOUSDEN

Laguna Beach

A little bit of care is all that we ask for

Responding to Mia Davidson’s letter (“An unhappy day at the

beach,” Coastline Pilot, March 12): I too, am often shocked by

people’s blatant disregard of the laws concerning the tide pools.

Just a few weeks ago, I was coming up the stairs at Shaw’s Cove

with a friend, when right in front of me was a man with two young

teenage boys carrying a bucket. As we passed, we looked inside the

bucket and lo and behold, it was filled with a few inches of water

and a beautiful four-inch starfish.

We told the man that it was against the law to remove the

starfish, but he didn’t seem to care. My friend stuck her hand in to

take the starfish and carry it back into the water, but it had firmly

attached itself to the side of the bucket and prying it off would

have ripped the legs. So with a lot of chutzpah, she took the bucket

out of their hands and carried it back down to the beach. At the

beach, she handed it off to a scuba diver who took it back into the

ocean, to wedge the bucket and its’ contents into the rocks.

One starfish was protected, but I see this every time I go to the

beach. Why isn’t more being done to protect the tide pools and the

beaches? This outright pillaging has got to be stopped.

MELINDA STANTON

Laguna Beach

Teach your children about the tide pools

It’s that time of year again and I am not just referring to

spring. It’s school children field trip season. The time when

hundreds of school children board buses after they arrive at school

in the morning somewhere inland of the coast and head for Laguna

Beach, Heisler Park, for a day of fun, frolic, food and foraging in

the tide pools on a daily basis. While it is a great time for the

kids, teachers and parents who accompany the students, our tide pools

are the worst for wear.

The tide pools, at low tide, are unsuspecting and completely

vulnerable. Unaware that within minutes, hundreds of excited second-,

third- and forth-graders will descend on them, treating them as fair

game. After all, they have been told by their teachers to locate and

by extension prod, poke, probe and pick up sea hares, hermit crabs,

sea anemones, sea stars and more. The students are given little

worksheets by their teachers to guide them in their search. However,

what they are not told by their teachers, or anyone else, is that the

beaches below Heisler Park are Marine Protected Areas and nothing in

and around the tide pools may be disturbed. Anyone who is caught

disturbing plant, animal or mineral is subject to a fine of up to

$1,000.

There is nothing wrong with kids being kids. How are they supposed

to know any better if the adults who are charged with oversight don’t

know any better? Policies, programs and activities that promote

beach, tide pool and ocean resource management and protection can and

should be adopted.

Here is one example of a program adopted by a town just to the

north of us which does just that:

Schools must schedule field trips in advance with the city so that

the number of children at the tide pools at any one time is kept at a

safe and manageable level. The city provides educational materials to

the schools in advance, which emphasizes proper tide pool behavior.

The buses bringing the children are directed to a specific area to

park as opposed to parking wherever they can and taking multiple

spots designed for cars.

The city has trained docents at the tide pools who serve two

purposes: Enhance the educational experience for each and every child

and protect the fragile inter-tidal zone environment.

The city charges the schools about $1 per student to cover the

cost of scheduling, educational materials, postage and docents.

This program is a plus from every point-of-view: the students’,

teachers’, city residents’, city government’s and the tide pools’. It

is an easy program to start and operate, all it takes is a measure of

will on the part of our city government.

FRED SATTLER

Coordinator Volunteer

TideWater Docent Program

Laguna Beach

White-water view not so nice anymore

My family has lived in South Laguna on a property with a beautiful

white-water view of Aliso Beach since the early 1970s.

Some would be quite envious of this spectacular view, however it

has become quite disturbing to our family. The water in and around

the beach area is so polluted none of us will dare go for a swim.

With the only beach parking in Laguna, we watch visitors venture into

the water daily and wonder how sick they become the following week.

From our vantage point, it is easy to see the rings of foam several

feet off shore that surround the pollutants from the run off. This

used to be an uncommon appearance, but now it is the daily scene.

Why are our beaches so polluted? The stream has been there since

the beginning of time.

Runoff runs down hill and our beaches are at the bottom of the

hill. Think about the hundreds, no, thousands of new homes that have

been built up stream from Aliso Creek and Laguna Canyon in the past

30 years. Although the number of homes in Laguna has increased little

there were only 7,000 dwellings in Laguna Niguel in 1970 and Aliso

Viejo, Foothill Ranch, Ladera Ranch and Rancho Santa Margarita did

not exist. It is clear that all the cities in South County cities

have developed proportionately. All these homes have beautiful

landscaped yards that require lots of fertilizer and water that runs

down the concrete into the storm drains and into our ocean.

For those of you who are unaware, nothing has been done to develop

a process to trap run off and treat the water before it goes into our

streams from all these new homes. I asked one of your City Council

members what was being done about the run off. The response was

nothing, nothing by the city or by the county. To me this is

unthinkable. As we bask in the glory of inflated housing prices we

should be careful, perhaps not in our lifetime, but in our

children’s, we may find that our once beautiful seaside city will not

be so desirable when the dead fish begin to line the shore and

produce foul odors.

All of our beaches are marine protected zones. The efforts by

groups like Ocean Laguna and their tidewater docents are to be

commended but it is not enough. We need to expand our efforts

upstream and demand that run off be trapped and treated before it

passes down stream. What will Laguna Beach be without the beach?

CANDICE BURROUGHS

Laguna Beach

District thoughtless in school construction

Noticed any problems? How can anyone who lives anywhere where they

can see this monolith, not notice -- day or night.

It amazes me, although the school district is immune from design

review, that such a structure can be built in Laguna Beach, blocking

views, blasting lights all night. It is apparent that the only

restrictions here regarding views are neighbor versus neighbor.

It is obvious that the school district and Thurston Middle School

doesn’t understand anything about being a good neighbor. I can’t wait

until the school district is looking to the good citizens for money

appropriations again!

JOHN BENECKE

Laguna Beach

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