Open space, views focus of council forum

View and open space preservation dominated the questions at a City Council candidate forum, presented Monday by two hillside neighborhoods near wild lands.

Top of the World and Temple Hills neighborhood associations hosted the meeting in the City Council chambers. The forum was the last of seven for this election. Residents had the opportunity to grill tavern owner Kelly Boyd, retired City Clerk Verna Rollinger and incumbents Toni Iseman and Elizabeth Pearson-Schneider.

Three of the four candidates have special ties to one or the other of the two neighborhoods: Rollinger is a member of the Temple Hills association, Pearson-Schneider moved to Top of the World last year from North Laguna and Boyd used to live in the Rimrock Canyon area.

The fate of Rimrock Canyon was the first question posed to the candidates. The steeply sloped canyon east of Temple Hills below Top of the World is undeveloped but includes large privately owned parcels. Landslides have occurred on the west flank of the canyon.

Temple Hills Community Assn. board member Ron Chilcote asked candidates for their thoughts on buying and conserving Rimrock Canyon and about if public funds would be used.

Boyd said the city should just buy the canyon and preserve it. Rollinger said she was excited to hear that the neighborhood had found people interested in buying Rimrock.

The incumbents voiced the need for caution, with open space purchases dependent on geology and location.

Top of the World Neighborhood Assn. presented the second question, which dealt with construction on the north end of Alta Laguna Boulevard, which the candidates unanimously agreed should be sensitive to public and private view preservation.

“A wonderful home can be built that doesn’t have to obstruct views,” Iseman said.

In a related question, Top of the World resident Dave Connell asked how each candidate would change the city’s view protection ordinance to make it more effective.

“I haven’t seen a view ordinance I would support,” Rollinger said. “I am not in favor of cutting down trees.”

Pearson-Schneider voted for a right-to-a-view clause in the ordinance when she was on the planning commission, but she said she has never been able to muster a third vote for it as a council member. “I’d like to see us come up with something, but it is difficult,” Boyd said.

A question about view blockage on Thalia Street by utility poles was coupled with the issue of speeders down Park Avenue and Temple Hills Drive.

Burying utility poles is both a view issue and a safety issue, Iseman said.

Pearson-Schneider and Rollinger said a neighborhood interested in burying utility lines should contact the city to put its name on the list. Neighborhood approval is required.

Boyd said he would work to get Thalia poles removed.

As for downhill speeders, Boyd said the first thing to do is reduce the speed on Park Avenue from 40 to 30 mph.

Rollinger said police presence is needed on all major hillside streets.

Top of the World board member Gene Felder asked the candidates what they thought should be done with the former YMCA in Aliso Canyon and the eucalyptus trees that grow there. No one had answer because the plans for redevelopment in the area have not yet been submitted.

Candidates were also questioned about their support for a plan to keep open and upgrade the traditional hillside pathways to the downtown. All of the candidates supported the preservation of the pathways. Boyd added the caveat that the privacy of pathway neighbors needs to be considered.

St. Ann’s Drive resident Steven Crawford wanted to know what the city could do about the autonomy of the Laguna Beach Unified School District in its handling of school property.

The short answer is nothing. The district does not need the approval of the city for any projects, such as the fence around the ball field, which had neighbors on a warpath, or the remodel of the Laguna Beach High School and Thurston Middle School.

“The district is a separate entity,” Boyd said. “We can meet, but I don’t think we can enforce anything.”

Iseman said the city can’t tell the district what to do, but a respectful relationship is needed.

There have been unfortunate incidences, Rollinger said, but she would welcome the chance to work with the district and the city to benefit both groups.

“The city has tried to work with the district,” Pearson-Schneider said. “We had a big meeting about the lighting and fencing. The district became more responsive after we made our concerns known.”

Pearson-Schneider said the city is also working with the district on more community access to the Artists Theatre.

Top of the World resident Mary Jo Mancuso and her daughter, Stephanie, both active in Girl Scouts, asked for assurances that the North Laguna lot on which the Scout House sits would not be sold.

Rollinger and the two incumbents were at the meeting last year — dubbed by City Manager Ken Frank as the Brownie Rebellion — when the council was scheduled to discuss the sale of the lot on which the Girl Scout House has sat for more than 50 years.

“The council wisely said it was off the table,” Rollinger said.

Iseman said the council would not turn its back on the Girl Scouts.

Pearson-Schneider, who was mayor at the time the council was considering the sale of several city-owned parcels, said the lot won’t be sold unless the Scouts have approved another site.

“It was never our intent to kick the Scouts out of Laguna Beach,” Pearson-Schneider said.

Other questions posed to the candidates included voluntary campaign spending limits, what to do about low commercial flights over Laguna (see the What’s Up column on Page A6), ways to improve water quality, drop-off arrangements for school children, Forest Avenue traffic, downtown traffic, improving water quality and the benefits of training, exchange of information and public meetings on land use and traffic.

About 30 people attended the forum. Marion Jacobs moderated.