Looking back at an eventful year in Laguna Beach

BARBARA DIAMOND

It was civil war, not civility that reigned this year in Laguna

Beach.

A good example: The California Coastal Commission hearing on the

proposed relocation of the city maintenance yard. Choosing which side

of the meeting room to sit on was like deciding which side of the

aisle to sit at a Hatfield/McCoy wedding.

The divide in the city culminated in a vitriolic election that

poisoned personal, professional and official relationships.

Critics of “negative campaigns” were every bit as negative as the

hit pieces they decried. Whether we agree or not, the Constitution

guarantees the right to be head.

Not all the news was bad. Laguna continues to show its heart. If

there is a need, there is an organization here ready to take up the

cudgels.

Here is a glimpse of the year in review, gleaned from the pages of

the Laguna Beach Coastline Pilot.

JANUARY

Jan. 2: Roger von Butow announced the formation of Laguna Canyon

Creek. Councilman Wayne Baglin said he hoped the group could forge a

partnership between nonprofit organizations and the city. The city

was looking for funds to pay for the restoration of the creek between

El Toro Road and the Bark Park.

* Laguna Beach High School basketball teams finally were able to

play reality home games. Dugger Gymnasium, which had been closed six

months for renovations, reopened.

* Laguna High school senior Jake Wheeler was named to the

All-California Interscholastic Federation Southern Section Division

IX football team. He started on both sides of the ball for the

Breakers in the 2003 season and led the team in receptions.

Jan. 9: The City Council gave Montage Resort and Spa 60 days to

resolve its over-flow parking problem, preferably in its own

backyard. “I am not saying we are encouraging you to get everything

on-site, I am saying we are requiring you to get everything on-site,”

Councilman Wayne Baglin said. The resort had been parking its

employees on two parcels across Coast Highway, both leased from the

Esslinger Trust. A provision of the coastal development permit

allowed off-site parking, but required the resort to own the ground,

not just lease it and it must be within 300 feet of the main

property..

* Suzanne Morrison, Eve Plumb and David Michel were reappointed to

the Design Review Board.

* The City Council denied an application to put in a Subway

sandwich shop on Broadway -- for lack of on-site parking.

Jan. 16: City officials were getting edgy about the effects of the

state budget on the local budget. Proposed state cuts in property tax

revenue returned to the cities would cost Laguna $500,000 per year if

approved by the legislature.

* Martha Anderson announced she was running for City Clerk, hoping

to succeed Verna Rollinger, who was retiring after 29 years at the

job.

Jan. 23: The last utility poles were removed from Arch Beach

Heights.” It took 15 years,” said Renate Delius, one of the original

petitioners for the project.

* City officials tentatively approved a program that would require

property owners to pay to keep sewage lines from their homes --

called laterals -- from blocking city mains. Estimates of the

homeowners’ costs ranged from $2,000 to $20,000.

Jan. 30: An Esslinger Trust trustee put an end to developer Steve

Vliss’ dreams for a ritzy project on the property known as Driftwood

Estates. The council delayed approval of a 15-unit project

recommended by the Planning Commission to try to reach a compromise

that would satisfy neighbors and still pencil out for Vliss, who had

spent four years and thousands of dollars on the project. The

approval included the donation of 218 acres of open space. Councilman

Steve Dicterow volunteered to facilitate negotiations. After almost a

year of talks, Vliss had dropped the units to 11, but the neighbors

remained obdurate. The council approved the revised project, with

city entitlements good for two years. However, Vliss felt the project

was no longer economically feasible and it still lacked California

Coastal Commission approval for development and a change in the Local

Coastal Plan. He allowed his option to lapse. The trust sold the

property to Montage Resort and Spa.

FEBRUARY

Feb. 6: The Laguna Beach School Board reversed its decision to

allow MTV on campus for a reality show about local students. Some

parents were up in arms, but MTV moved ahead with the selection of

students whose parents would permit their children to be filmed

off-campus.

* Council members voted unanimously to hire a consultant to study

ways to keep South Coast Medical Center in town. Hospital officials,

who had been considering relocating for more than a year, also hired

advisors.

* A report by city staff on ways to keep the municipal buses

running without reducing service and without city subsidies did not

satisfy Councilman Wayne Baglin. Baglin called the report “smoke and

mirrors.”

Feb. 13: The Arts for AIDS benefit at the St. Regis raised more

than $500,000 to benefit the AIDS Services Foundation and the museum.

Feb. 20: Montage Resort and spa officials confirmed they were in

escrow to purchase Aliso Creek Inn and Golf Course. The turnoff to

the 87-acre property, that many in town still call Ben Brown’s, is

about three-tenths of a mile south of the resort, tucked into a deep

canyon abutting open space through which Aliso Creek runs. Montage

officials declined to comment on plans for the property.

Feb. 27: The California Coastal Commission voted at its Feb. 18

meeting to hear an appeal of the county’s approval of the relocation

of the city’s maintenance yard to the Act V lot in Laguna Canyon

outside the city limits. The decision stopped development until a de

nova hearing, tentatively scheduled for June 9.

MARCH

March 5: First and former Festival of Arts executive director

Steve Brezzo filed a law suit against the festival and four board

members claiming they had inflicted emotional distress, disclosed

private information and undermined his policies. The policy they

principally objected to was a proposal to license the Pageant of the

Masters.

* An armed robber escaped with $1,100 in cash from Pavilions in

North Laguna. The stick-up took place about 7 a.m.

March 12: “Freedom is not Free” was the theme of the 38th annual

Patriots Day Parade. U. S. Marine Corps Brig. Gen. Terry G. Robling

was the grand marshal. World War II veteran Bill Schuster was honored

as the Patriot of the Year. Arts Commissioner Emerius Doris Shields

was named Citizen of the Year.

* The City Council delayed a proposed increase in fees at parking

lot meters and for shopper’s stickers until the Chamber of Commerce

weighed in. The council did not want a repeat of the debacle in 2003

when it raised meter fees to $1.50 an hour and then acceded to

chamber demands to restore the original $1 an hour fee.

* Verlaine Crawford was hired as the new executive director of the

chamber. Upgrading the chamber was a top priority, she said.

* The marine mammal rehab facility in Laguna Canyon adopted

Pacific Marine Mammal Center as its name.

March 19: City Zoning Administrator John Tilton’s new job as Dana

Point city architect reunited him with long-time friend Kyle

Butterwick, former director of the Laguna Beach Community Development

Department, who was hired in the same capacity for DP.

* The City Council couldn’t decide at their annual retreat where

to put a stoplight on Nyes Place, but considered putting one in the

Council Chamber to replace the timer that shuts off public comment.

* A group of Laguna Beach residents announced plans to put an

initiative on the November ballot that would require the city to

enforce restoration of views lost to increased vegetation. The group

supports restoration regardless of how long the property has been

owned or how much view was there when it was bought.

March 26: Condominium owners at Montage Resort and Spa appealed

the approval of the first estate home. The owners said the proposed

home took away too much of their views. Architect Morris Skendarian

said the home met the criteria of the Treasure Island Specific Plan,

which had been hammered out in joint Planning Commission/Design

Review Board meetings and condo owners had been advised of what to

expect. An 80-page design and construction guideline was presented to

all condo owners. “We would never have spent $3.5 million on a

condominium without assurances that we would never completely loose

our view,” condo owner Ron Schwartz said.

* The California Conservancy approved an $800,000 allocation to

Laguna Beach for the purchase of the Wainwright and Trinity

properties in Laguna Canyon. The allocation came out of the

Proposition 12 funds approved by state voters in 2000.

* Koss Real Estate Investments, owner of the Lumberyard Mall, shut

down the public parking in the lot in back of the post office.

* A federal court judge upheld a Laguna Beach ordinance that

prohibits the sale of merchandise -- including art -- in public

parks. The ordinance had been challenged by local artist, Michael

Lavery, who was fined $250 in 1999 for selling his paintings in

Heisler Park.

APRIL

April 2: The Laguna Beach Lifeguard Assn. battled with City

Manager Ken Frank about the number of full-time employees needed to

protect the public. The association wanted two more full-time guards

added to the four-guard, year-round staff. Frank said it made better

sense and cents to have more lifeguards on the payroll when more

people are on the beaches.

* Sailor Roy Reineman and the crew of the sailboat Violetta de la

Mar captured the biggest prize in a Balboa Yacht Club race. They

hauled a 71-year-old man out of the Pacific, more than likely saving

his life, a Deputy Sheriff said. The man had been swimming in the

ocean for an estimated two hours after his kayak had capsized.

April 9: Festival of Arts board President Bob Henry switched

offices with Anita Mangels, who was elected to the board in November

by festival members and as vice-president by the board. Festival

by-laws stipulate that the vice-president takes over if the president

vacates the office. In this case, Henry just stepped down, not out,

into the vice presidency.

* Plans by a Glenneyre Street property owner to build a house took

a dip. The council voted unanimously to overturn a Design Review

Board approval of a single-family home and detached garage on a

parcel unpopularly known as the Dip House. The council cited safety

concerns for the denial.

April 16: Montage Resort and Spa announced that escrow closed

April 1 on the purchase of the 228.5-acre hillside parcel known as

Driftwood Estates. The resort owners had bought the 80-acre Aliso

Creek Inn and Golf Course in March .No plans were announced for

either parcel.

* Former Thurston Middle School teacher Rick Scott pleaded guilty

to two counts of statutory rape between 2000 and 2002, involving a

member of the Laguna Beach Girls Water Polo Team. Scott, who was

twice honored as the CIF Coach of the Year, was sentenced to 60 days

in Orange County Jail and three years probation. He was ordered to

pay counseling costs for the girl, but was not required to register

as a sex offender.

* The California Academy of Family Physicians named Laguna Beach

Community Clinic doctor Korey Jorgenson 2004 California Physician of

the Year. Jorgenson has been with the clinic since 1972 and served as

medical director from 1999 to 2002 and as director and director

emeritus during the same period of the HIV Early Invention program at

the clinic, which he had designed.

* “Rock-it for the Rocket” was held April 18 to raise funds to

match a city grant to replace the Rocket Ship in Bluebird Park, which

had been dismantled for safety reasons. Parent Sonia Campbell

organized the event.

*The City Council certified an environmental report for the

construction of a Senior Center on Third Street that was neither the

size nor the site Laguna Beach Seniors Inc. wanted, but accepted that

it was the best it could get. Councilwoman Elizabeth Pearson

estimated that $1.4 to $1.5 million needed to be raised for

construction and an endowment.

April 23: The City Council reduced the speed on Nyes Place to 15

miles an hour and ordered speed humps installed to slow vehicles that

travel the steep, winding street. Staff was ordered to pursue other

remedies.

* Attorney Jane Egly announced she would make her second bid for a

seat on the council Last time out -- 2000 -- she came in third in a

field of nine, beaten by Cheryl Kinsman and Wayne Baglin, the

incumbents against whom she would run against this time.

* Laguna Shanti moved out of town, officials said, to be closer to

the majority of its AIDS clients.

April 30: The Queen of Hearts Guild of Children’s Hospital of

Orange County held its annual fund-raiser at the Surf & Sand. The

Laguna Beach chapter of CHOC raised enough in the past two years to

fund a pediatrics treatment room at Mission Hospital Regional Medical

Center. The goal is to build an 11-room pediatrics emergency

department.

MAY

May 7: The City Council approved a watered-down version of an

ordinance regulating maintenance of sewage lines from private

properties. The ordinance will rely on voluntary action by property

owners to keep fully functional laterals -- the pipes that carry

wastewater from the structures to the city sewers -- unless the

owners propose to substantially upgrade their properties. A

point-of-sale component, vehemently opposed by the city’s Realtors as

a deal breaker, was dropped.

* Laguna Beach firefighters joined forces with other departments

to help battle blazes that were scorching Southern California.

*Montage Resort and Spa condominium owners appealed the approval

of two proposed single-family residences to be built in front of

them. The Design Review Board approved the projects under guidelines

hammered out in 30 separate and joint meetings of the board and the

Planning Commission. Participants in the meetings said the idea was

to limit further review to style, color, material and consistency

with the guidelines. Condo owners said they weren’t fully informed.

* Orange County Arts named Laguna Beach High School teacher Peter

Tiner the Outstanding Arts Educator of the year at a posh event April

22. Festival of Arts board veteran David Young was also honored that

night.

* No Square Theatre announced that Suzanne Lilly was the new

managing director. Lilly kept her day job as administrative manager

of the Laguna Beach Chamber of Commerce for a short while.

May 14: The fledgling Laguna Beach Community Foundation proposed a

plan May 5 at the Assistance League’s Chapter House to assist local

nonprofit organi- zations in fund-raising. Laguna Canyon Foundation

founder Michael Pinto, foundation executive director Mary Fegraus and

former Councilman Wayne Peterson spearheaded the creation of the new

foundation. The proposal came the day after City Councilman Wayne

Baglin announced that nonprofit organizations that can’t fund their

operating costs should start writing their obituaries.

May 21: The proposed skateboard park hit the skids again. YMCA

officials went to the May 18 council meeting thinking that the

council had a straight-forward decision to make: put it at the Bark

Park or Big Bend. In March of 2003, the council had switched the site

from the dog park to the city- owned parcel at Big Bend. But the Big

Bend site hit a snag. Councilman Wayne Baglin, who originally voted

with a 3 to 2 majority for Big Bend asked for a reconsideration and

switched his vote to no.

May 28: Former Ambassador Joe Wilson preached to the choir May 21

when he criticized the administration’s war on Iraq as a regime

change by armed force, not the ballot box, which is integral to

democracy. Wilson is the husband of a former CIA operative, whose

identity was leaked to the media after Wilson’s public criticism.

JUNE

June 4: Laguna Beach grieved at the loss of Laguna Beach High

School students Max Sadler, 16, and Mark Tiner, 17, who died in a

traffic accident on Coast Highway in Dana Point. No drugs or alcohol

were involved.

June 11: Police Detective Paul Litchenberg and Sgt. Jason Kravetz

closed the file on a 21-year-old Laguna Beach murder case. James Paul

Snider, 48, of Michigan confessed to the murder of Ronald Jay Murphy

in December 1983 after less than 20 minutes of questioning. DNA

collected from beer bottles and cigarettes at the crime scene and

saved led Litchenberg to the killer.

June 18: Bluebird Park was re-dedicated June 12. The Laguna Beach

Community Concert band performed while children -- and some parents

-- played on the new equipment.

* City Councilman Wayne Baglin opposed applying for Orange County

Transportation Authority funds, because a big chunk would be used for

the proposed relocated maintenance yard. Of the $2,085.000 request,

$900,000 would be allocated to the transportation component in the

relocated yard. Baglin opposed the relocation Councilman Steve

Dicterow said the yard was going to be moved whether Baglin liked it

or not. “I would think you would want it to cost the city less,”

Dicterow said. Baglin retorted that he would scuttle funding for the

move whenever possible. Councilwoman Toni Iseman, who also opposes

the relocation, was absent.

June 25: The class of 1944 held its own graduation cere- mony,

presenting a diploma to Hisake Ishida, 77, who was scooped up in the

round-up of Japanese civilian during World War II. “I graduated from

high school in the camp; this was better,” Ishida said.

* OUR LAGUNA is a regular feature of the Laguna Beach Coastline

Pilot. Contributions are welcomed. Write to Barbara Diamond, P.O. Box

248, Laguna Beach, 92652; hand-deliver to 384 Forest Ave., Suite 22;

call 49404321 or fax 494-8979.