Realty office in Landmark approved

At least one indignant resident is considering asking the City Council to reconsider its approval of a real estate office fronting on Forest Avenue.

The City Council voted 3-1 to grant Planning Commissioner Bob Chapman a permit to open a Sotheby’s realty office in Landmark Plaza, although confusion clouded the process. Public testimony and early council discussions were based on the assumption that the project had been approved at a previous meeting and only a review to ensure parking requirements had been met and additional conditions were to be considered. Not so.

“The agenda item should have been clarified and re-noticed,” said Arnold Hano, who spoke at the meeting before the council was advised that no approval had been granted at the appeal hearing on Feb. 5.

The misunderstanding hampered the public debate on the appeal, according to Hano.

An appeal was automatic because of Chapman’s position on the Planning Commission, which had unanimously recommended denial of the proposal.

Staff’s recommendation at the March 4 meeting included the direction from the council to prepare a draft of an approval resolution, which was done.

The wording was initially interpreted incorrectly to mean council had approved the proposal.

City Attorney Philip Kohn retired to the City Clerk’s Office to review a tape of the Feb. 5 meeting and returned to the Council Chambers to advise the council that no approval had been granted.

Councilwoman Toni Iseman was the lone vote against the proposal, based on the conflict with the Downtown Specific Plan, which discourages offices on the first floor of buildings on Forest Avenue.

However, the plan does not contain a specific prohibition.

Iseman also said an office would detract from the vibrancy of Forest Avenue by discouraging the foot traffic of pedestrians looking for retail shops.

“I don’t think it will affect the retail stores,” said jeweler Ken Lauher, who has owned a store since 1977 diagonally across the avenue from Landmark Plaza.

The plaza also includes retail shops, a beauty salon and a restaurant.

Chapman said the display of art in the front windows of the Sotheby space and a visitor information kiosk prominently featured on to the interior would draw the interest of tourists and locals.

Project architect Kirk Sanders opined that retail was not the best use for the building because the downtown plan bans “formulaic businesses,” such as stores with multiple locations and nearly identical inventory, and the Landmark suite is so large — outsized for the boutiques typically found on Forest.

The staff report to the Planning Commission did not assert that the Sotheby’s proposal was formulaic and therefore incompatible with the downtown plan.

Mayor Jane Egly said Chapman was trying to be creative and inviting and agreed with testimony that the site was difficult and a blight if left sitting empty.

Iseman suggested the property owner “divide and conquer.”

Splitting the space into smaller units would make it more compatible with the ambience of Forest Avenue, Hano said.

Councilman Kelly Boyd said from the get-go he was inclined to approve the proposal because he did not want to see another vacant building downtown.

As of Wednesday, three spaces were vacant on Forest Avenue, two of them soon to be occupied: 18,856 square-foot Landmark Plaza suite by Sotheby’s and the shop at 265 Forest, where Ropage Beauty Supply is moving from its present location on Ocean Avenue.

The old Mariners stationery store has been vacant since Crystal Image moved across the street into the former Wyland Gallery, but it too will be occupied. The Beautification Council reportedly has been granted temporary use.

“We don’t see many vacancies on Forest Avenue and if the rent is right, they don’t stay vacant long,” said George Nelson, owner of Fawn Memories.

Hano accused proponents of the Chapman plan of using intimations of a business district ghost town as scare tactics to influence city officials and just one more reason for the council to reconsider its approval.

The approval included 19 conditions, including amendments by the council:

 A minimum of 25% of the space for visitor-serving uses, including an art display unrelated to real estate;

 An on-site kiosk within 30 feet of the Forest Avenue entrance to the brokerage and visible upon entry, with appropriate signage to be approved by the Design Review Board, and

 An art display celebrating Laguna’s history and heritage placed within 30 feet of the entry.

The full text of approval resolution will be available on the city’s website www.lagunabeachcity.net or in the City Clerk Office in City Hall, 505 Forest Ave. For more information, call (949) 497-0705.