Chamber doesn’t deserve all the credit Cindy...

Chamber doesn’t deserve all the credit

Cindy Frazier’s article about the Chamber of Commerce hiring a

legislative advocate is confusing and puzzling to me.

Especially the part stating “the chamber lobbied -- and got City

Council support for -- a pilot project to disable parking meters

along Glenneyre Street to determine if providing free parking for

customers would solve the parking crunch in residential

neighborhoods.”

I’ve been working with the Village Flatlanders Neighborhood Assn.

for over a year regarding “residential neighborhood parking

problems.” The City Council appointed a parking task force

subcommittee of Steve Dicterow and Jane Egly to study this problem

after the final approval of the Pottery Shack remodel project.

Many public meetings were held at City Hall. A great deal of

research and study was done by the Village Flatlanders

Neighborhood Assn. and presented at these meetings.

It was Roger von Butow, VFNA’s senior environmental officer, who

originally proposed the “bagging of the meters.”

Never has it been my understanding that the chamber lobbied for

this to see if providing free parking for customers would solve the

residential parking crunch.

Our neighborhood’s biggest problem and Woods Cove Neighborhood

Assn.’s biggest problem has been business employees parking in the

neighborhoods, not customers.

The facts are very clear. Cindy’s article is not clear!

If Mr. Lumachi truly wants to speak as “the voice of business” he

will have to get on the “stick” very quickly and recruit a lot more

members in the “South Village” neighborhood. As well as provide

accurate information to the Coastline Pilot and other media sources

for any future articles.

RIK LAWRENCE

Laguna Beach

Mayor grateful for paramedic response

I am writing to express my sincere appreciation for Laguna’s

fantastic dispatchers and firefighters. Aside from my familiarity, as

a councilmember, with the quality emergency services that are

provided in Laguna Beach -- I have a personal reason for being

thankful.

Last Tuesday night, after the council meeting, I arrived home to a

husband who was in extreme pain that was emanating from his chest,

down his side and to the back. I called 911 and our firefighters

arrived in just a few seconds at our home.

Furniture was moved and equipment was brought out in less than a

minute upon these phenomenal pros entering the house. Ernie’s heart

and other vitals were checked out (with very sophisticated equipment)

in a matter of minutes and it was determined that he was not in

eminent danger. I was asked which hospital he should be taken to, and

they were gone. It was all a whirlwind, but also a relief to me, to

know that Ernie was in such capable hands.

We wanted to publicly express our gratitude to our dispatchers --

Angie Cleveland and Mary Leatherman -- and to our firefighters: Capt.

Tom Christopher, engineer John Kuzmic, firefighter Lee Mitchell,

Capt. Gary Ganger, engineer Robert Abijay and firefighter Kurt

Bladergroen. We are so lucky to have the level of capability and

professionalism that we have in our city.

Ernie, as it turned out, had some cracked ribs and detached

cartilage. He’ll live.

MAYOR ELIZABETH

PEARSON-SCHNEIDER

Laguna Beach

Golf course would beautify Aliso

I believe that the environmentalists, the Laguna Beach City

Council, plus their Design Review board, have their heads in the

sand, regarding the Montage plans to develop a championship 18-hole

golf course in the Aliso Creek Canyon in North Laguna Beach.

The extension of the existing nine-hole golf course upwards in the

canyon will create beauty now where only weeds, brush and nothing

exists. The creation of a great 18-hold golf course will not only add

to the enhancement of the area, but will create many jobs and add to

the income of the city of Laguna Beach.

How is it possible that anyone could turn down this project?

ROSS B. WANKIER

Irvine Cove

Let’s look at core issues on ‘dip house’

This letter is in response to the writer of the April 29th letter

to the editor called “Denying dip house isn’t fair.”

Do you really believe that the city is holding up the approvals on

this parcel because of a view issue that doesn’t even involve the

ocean? Design Review doesn’t hold up view issues that do involve the

ocean, so why do you suppose this parcel is being singled out?

It wouldn’t be because the owner wants to place a house on a lot

the size of a closet, would it? Or that to safely place anything in

this area it would need to be a flotilla, since it’s smack dab in the

middle of one of our larger watercourses?

I’ve got a new concept for you. The concept that what one person

does on their property affects the people and properties around them.

Do you actually think that residents would care what the owner did on

his property if it wasn’t degrading the rest of the community?

This project poses drainage problems for surrounding neighbors.

Getting a vehicle from the street into the closet and then out again

safely poses another unique issue. And the fact that most of the year

that ground remains saturated -- which I believe qualifies it as a

wetland -- are core issues, not aesthetics.

The reason it’s taken four years to resolve is because the city

has been holding the owner’s hand to help him get out of a lousy deal

he made all on his own. But he’s even too stubborn to pick up on a

good deal, even when it’s staring him right in the face. The city may

give up and eventually approve something. It just means we move on to

the state regulating agencies.

The state requirement is that no “development” occur within 100

feet from the bank of a stream. Considering that this property spends

most of the year submerged, how far do you think he’s going to get

with the state? The state won’t be doing any hand-holding and will be

expeditious. Think about it.

DEBBIE HERTZ

Laguna Beach