Rules of development should be clear to...

Rules of development should be clear to all

Re: “Should more be done to educate home buyers about changes that

can be made to their properties and their neighbors’?” (Coastline

Pilot, March 26)

Yes. Because there are currently too many unhappy people and too

much angry rhetoric.

Why?

Because it doesn’t appear that every coach and player in this game

knows the rules.

The City Council and the Design Review Board are the referees of

this game and they must be able to verify that all coaches and all

players have received the rule book.

How?

Require all real estate broker/ agents and all architect/

designers to give the hillside guidelines and the city’s development

suggestions to all clients before they purchase, build or renovate

homes that would require the Design Review Board process.

That would mitigate a good deal of the antagonistic rhetoric and

time waste that is part and parcel of almost every item on the Design

Review Board’s agenda.

As referees of the game, I think it behooves the city to require

and verify this most basic act of disclosure -- the rule book.

After that’s required, then I believe you can proceed and improve

on the subjectivity or grey areas that are also referred to in your

“Buyer Beware” article.

J. GREGORY CLARKE

Laguna Beach

We need more lifeguards all year

Reading over the article regarding the concerns that the Lifeguard

Assn. has with the lack of full-time guards available only shows,

once again, that our city officials are placing the priorities

regarding marine safety on the back burner.

Look around you -- Laguna is no longer a tourist destination only

during the summer and at spring break. I have lived in Laguna since

1959 and have seen other aspects of this city change with growth, but

little has changed regarding the lifeguards.

Laguna continues to adjust to the pressures created as a result of

the tremendous growth in population in this region. I feel it is the

time for our city officials to look, and listen, and heed the

concerns of the Lifeguard Assn. Please, city officials, rethink this

issue -- seriously.

PAT SPARKUHL

Laguna Beach

Dip House poses

a lot of danger

Many Laguna residents are aware of the auto and foot traffic

danger at the Glenneyre Street dip between Calliope and Bluebird

Canyon Drive. It is a blind spot that cannot be seen from Bluebird

coming toward Downtown.

The proposal to build the “Dip House” in this blind spot is coming

before City Council for the second time.

I urge residents to drive by 1530 Glenneyre St. where the story

poles indicate the future building within the canyon creek. The

egress and ingress will be in this dangerous dip.

The dip is blind for anyone attempting to exit the lot and almost

impossible for a person driving toward Calliope Street to see what is

coming out to avoid a collision. This would be compounded by any

pedestrian traffic that might be in the same area at the same time.

I live directly across from the proposed project and can see how

fast the traffic can be. An incident unfolded in front of my eyes

last December that left my old heart pounding for quite a while. A

Laguna shuttle bus stopped for some reason at the dip heading toward

Calliope Street.

A smaller vehicle stopped behind it. Then came a loud screeching

of brakes as a very large SUV swerved into the oncoming lane

obviously to avoid rear-ending both vehicles that were stopped and

blocking traffic. Fortunately, there were no major consequences --

that day.

Glenneyre Street at that point (at the dip) is a narrow two-lane

road. Both directions are downhill toward the dip. Huge tour busses,

city busses, fire engines from the Glenneyre/ Agate station, trucks,

bicycles, motorcycles, children pushed in strollers, joggers, school

children and all means of foot and mobile traffic use the dip on the

east side of Glenneyre hugging the guard rail rather than to traverse

the opposite narrow side where only a partial and uneven sidewalk

exists.

I am not alone, nor are our neighbors, in worrying about the

dangers to persons and property. Should this site be developed it

increases the probability of lawsuits and flooding, and poses an

extremely dangerous situation for all and is precedent-setting.

The council needs input and community presence to help emphasize

our concerns. They will make a decision on this project Tuesday in

City Hall chambers. The City Council meeting starts at 6 p.m. Please

be there.

ANNETTE STEPHENS

Laguna Beach

First rule of safety: slow down

Re: “What should the city do to make Nyes Place safer?” (Coastline

Pilot, March 19)

I’ve said the following at two previous the-problem-of-Nyes-Place

meetings. At the last meeting, the chairwoman merely wanted me to

“spit it out” as quickly as possible. Maybe one of these times

someone will care enough to listen.

Certainly, the trucks are a problem at the bottom of the hill. But

the long straightaway, the 600 block, is a veritable racetrack. It’s

Laguna Seca. Probably one in 10 drivers drives the 25-mile speed

limit. Hopefully someone doesn’t have to be hit and killed before

some action is taken.

MAXINE GREFE

Laguna Beach

Something has to be done to save views

I love trees. I love to hear the birds. I also would love to have

my original ocean view restored. Here in Laguna we can have both

trees and ocean views.

We are not asking for the removal of trees ... all we ask is that

homeowners take the responsibility of topping and keeping their

overly large nonnative trees no higher than their room lines. After

all, the homeowner sees only the tree trunks of their large trees.

We, on the other hand, have our ocean views taken away little by

little by their tree tops.

A roof top tree-height ordinance would solve both the tree and

ocean view problem and placate all. We can all then settle down, live

happily ever after in our unique little town.

FRAN GANNON

Laguna Beach

I don’t know if a view ordinance should be a city priority, but it

would be nice if we had help protecting the views we paid a lot of

money for.

Talking to neighbors about trees they’ve planted blocking our

views only works if they agree to do something. If they don’t do

anything, they now know there’s a neighbor who doesn’t like them.

This situation isn’t good and won’t get better. Maybe when new plans

are submitted, vegetation should be looked at. The height of a house

to be built is shown. Why isn’t something told to homeowners and

builders then that they shouldn’t plant trees that block views?

In my case, a friend of the family landscaped the home in front of

me. He decided to plant several palm trees. The fronds of the large

one takes out 40% of my view. These people don’t even see the tree

trunk, which is on the street side and nowhere near their view of the

ocean.

The smaller ones block another 25% of my ocean view. I’ve never

said anything. The friend knows the trees he planted block my view

now, but no one’s going to remove those trees if I say anything or

not. They like their trees -- I don’t.

A new house across the gully from another of my neighbors had five

large palms planted on the street side. They don’t see the trees, but

my neighbor’s view of Catalina Island will be gone by next year.

Whose fault is it? The builders, the landscapers, the owners? Who

knows?

I think there should be some teeth to the laws about views and

it’s up to the city to give it just that. If you can prove someone’s

destroyed a view you had the city should be able to help you get it

back. They monitor lots of other things such as barking dogs; noise

after 11 p.m. etc. Why not our views?

I’m now a 115-degree homeowner, down from 180 degrees.

LORELIE ATTRIDGE

Laguna Beach

We don’t want

to live in a desert

Many of us mourn the severe cutting of the beautiful, healthy,

full-grown Ficus tree that shaded Coast Highway on the ocean side on

the way into South Laguna.

It was a wonderful welcoming sight driving under it on a hot

summer afternoon, softening the sun’s glare.

It was not cut completely down, only the large limbs are left

leaving no smaller branches or even a leaf. Perhaps intended to die

and be removed?

This may have been inspired by those who write obsessively in the

Letters to the Editor about getting rid of the trees in Laguna --

trees that provide beauty, shade and oxygen to our environment and

homes for the birds endangered by man’s encroachment, trees that

enhance the views on our hillsides and in our neighborhoods.

Laguna would be bare without them like the desert coast south of

the border. Those who dislike the trees here should move to Rosarito

Beach.

MARY NELSON

Laguna Beach

It is not every week that I get the pleasure of reading our local

newspaper, but every time I’ve pursued the pages in the last decade,

I come across a letter, often a very long letter, by the view person.

This person week after week relentlessly complains about the terrible

trees and their damage to precious views.

Let me start my advice with four short words: Please get a life.

You’re scaring people with your one-track mind. For heaven sakes,

with all the problems and worries in the world, there must be another

subject you can move on too.

JJ HORSMAN

Laguna Beach

Why your support is critical to Laguna

We are fortunate to live in the most art-friendly city in Southern

California. From the public art dotting our beautiful landscape to

the dance performances on Main Beach, it’s hard to forget our focus

on art. How many other communities in Orange County can boast an art

museum, a theater with performances year-round and a highly regarded

arts college?

The arts help to define Laguna Beach in much the same way as our

beautiful coastline. It’s a large part of why we live here and why

Laguna Beach is such a special and unique place.

That’s why our community has fought hard to maintain local art

treasures such as the Festival of Arts and Pageant of the Masters and

Laguna Art Museum. Community-based art organizations such as these

are integral parts of our city’s history, add value to our homes and

enhance our quality of life. As was succinctly stated in a public

opinion survey conducted by Arts Orange County in 2001, “ ...

residents see the arts as important to the community, broadening to

individuals and a key element of education for children.”

In contrast to this finding it is interesting to point out that

there is minimal government spending for the arts. More specifically,

the National Endowment for the Arts found that U.S. Government

spending for the arts is lower than at least 11 other western countries. Although we have the highest per capita Gross Domestic

Product, we only spend $6 per person (0.13% of all final government

expenditures) compared, for example, to Finland’s $91 per person.

Locally, Orange County spends about $0.04 per person annually.

I give you these statistics to emphasize how important community

support, via memberships and donations, is to maintaining and growing

the museum’s commitment to serving the needs of the community.

Through its exhibitions, spirited lectures and performances,

educational outreach, and co-sponsorship of community events such as

Laguna Beach Live!, the Museum works tirelessly to provide you with

the types of broad cultural programming that you truly value.

In order to maintain and grow these programs our memberships need

to increase. That’s why we’ve launched Focus on Laguna, redoubling

our commitment to get and keep you involved in the museum.

The museum will also be issuing membership cards to each and every

student in Laguna Beach. These new academic members will be welcomed

to the museum by a committed education curator and a group of highly

skilled and well-informed docents. We hope that by encouraging our

academic members to visit the museum often, that parents will also

take the opportunity to take a cultural break with one of our

docents.

The importance of community support of our museum must be obvious.

Community help is critical to our success.

IGAL SILBER

President, Board of Trustees

Laguna Art Museum

Clearing up committee discussion

On March 26, you published a letter by Debbie Hertz about

Visioning 2030 and the Open Space Committee (“You have to force the

city to act,” Coastline Pilot). It stated, “Catharine Cooper,

spokesperson on this issue for the committee, suggested the Open

Space Committee become the Oversight Committee for the other

environmental committees.”

In late spring 2003, the council directed the Open Space Committee

to select one of the items from the Visioning document as an action

item for the duration of the calendar year. The committee elected

EN-2, which is named a “City-appointed Environmental Committee.” At

issue was whether a wholesale renaming of the Open Space Committee to

an Environmental Committee would take place, with a commensurate

shift in responsibilities and scope of duties. The committee

extensively reviewed several options, and made a recommendation, in

regard to EN-2 only, that a possible solution would be to develop

several independent committees to deal with other environmental

issues, and that a governing oversight committee, comprised of the

chairs of each of the independent entities, including the Open Space

Committee, might be named the “Environment Oversight Committee.”

This was a recommendation only. The council has yet to take action

or make a decision on the committee’s recommendation. This however

has nothing to do with the item, EN-3, to which Hertz makes

reference, which is the creation of an “Environmental Action

Committee Nonprofit Corporation,” which would function as a watchdog

group for the Environmental Responsibility Committee.

CATHARINE COOPER

Open Space Committee

* EDITOR’S NOTE: Catharine Cooper is a columnist for the Coastline

Pilot.

Center, clinic bad for Third Street

After attending the three Planning Commission meetings discussing

the draft environmental report for the Senior/Community

Center/Community Clinic, I am very concerned regarding the

significant traffic and air quality impacts created by this project

which cannot be mitigated to an acceptable level.

I hope that the residents of Laguna Beach will consider the impact

of this project on our Downtown.

At 6 p.m. on Tuesday, the City Council will be taking public input

regarding the report for this project, currently to be located at the

bottom of the Third Street Hill.

I would suggest moving the Senior Center to the Village Entrance

and rezoning the properties to residential R2. The properties could

then be sold and the profit used to complete the Village Entrance.

BARBARA HOAG

Laguna Beach

Shout it out if you love our ocean

Each Friday, I pore over the Laguna papers to see what is

happening in town and to see what my friends and neighbors are

thinking about. Lately, a topic that is close to my heart has been

given a voice. This topic is the Pacific Ocean and, more

specifically, our beautiful beaches and our magical tide pool

aquariums. I say bravo to those who have taken the time to express

their love and concern about this amazing natural resource.

It is surprising to me how so many of us apparently take the ocean

for granted. Just as we no longer find the biodiversity and abundance

our fathers and grandfathers enjoyed and expected at the water’s

edge, our children and grandchildren will not experience what we have

now. With each year, we have less and less marine life. Without

making them a priority for our collective consideration, our beaches

and tide pools will not be the places that restore and inspire us in

the future as they do now. We will lose something of immense value to

our lives if we allow them to become wastelands.

I believe that many more people share my love and concern for the

ocean and its creatures than is apparent. I am writing this letter to

challenge all of us. Let’s make our ocean, our beaches and our tide

pools the subject of dialogue during the next few months before

summer. Write to our papers. Speak out at City Council meetings.

I encourage swimmers, surfers, beach goers, divers, business

owners, homeowners, renters and all nature lovers to let us all know

how you experience the ocean and what it means to you. Teachers, have

your classes write about what they would like their beaches to be for

them and for their children. Parents, aunts, uncles, and children

write or speak about what our treasure mean to you. Express your

thoughts and tell of your experiences straight from your heart.

Let us show our City Council and each other that we value our

ocean, our beaches, and our tide pools and want them to survive for

generations to come!

NANCY BUSHNELL

Laguna resident

Great Park will be great addition

Many of us in Laguna Beach fought for years against the

ill-conceived proposed 24-hour commercial airport at El Toro.

Thankfully Norm Grossman, Kathleen Blackburn, Tom Falkowski, Ganka

Brown and many others did not give up.

Some of the milestones were pretty bleak:

* Lost Measure A in 1994 in a very close vote

* Lost Measure S in 1996, getting killed with only 40% of the vote

* Passing Measure F in 2000

* Passing Measure W in 2002 with 58% of the vote

The Top of the World Neighborhood Assn. had many events focusing

on our opposition to the El Toro airport including Irvine’s Larry

Agran, Huntington Beach’s Dave Sullivan, the Millennium Plan, etc.

Years ago, our featured speaker was Agran, who said we could not

defeat the airport with nothing, we had to have something to be for.

His leadership led to the Millennium Plan, and now to the Orange

County Great Park, which will become a reality sooner than you think.

We now have another great milestone:

* The annexation of the property into the city of Irvine, which

gives Irvine critical zoning and planning authority.

Read information at https://greatpark.ci.irvine.ca.us, it’s like a

miracle.

Actually, it’s very much as Margaret Mead said: “Never doubt that

a small group of thoughtful, committed citizens can change the world.

Indeed, it’s the only thing that ever has.”

The Orange County Great Park plan will transform the former El

Toro Marine Corps Air Station into one of America’s largest

metropolitan parks. Six square miles (3,885 acres) of the 4,700 acres

are designated for open space, education and other public uses. The

Orange County Great Park is actually 10 parks in one. A vast central

park (Meadows Park) will be surrounded by an undeveloped wildlife

park, the county’s largest sports park, a museum park, a golf and

woodlands park, an education park, a memorial park, a recreation

park, an agricultural heritage park and the Great Park Communities.

Your readers should be encouraged to become members of Great Park

Conservancy.

GENE FELDER

Laguna Beach

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

does not appear, it may be because of space limitations, 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

verification purposes only.