Laguna Beach residents who daily wake to the sound of planes overhead just after 7 a.m. likely take little comfort in knowing that the onslaught could begin earlier. A curfew agreement, which stipulates take-off times no earlier than 7 a.m., is up for renewal and part of negotiations underway with John Wayne Airport, according to [...]
After years of talks and studies, Laguna Beach’s City Council voted 3-2 on Tuesday to proceed with a $42 million village entrance park and parking structure, partly financed by an estimated $29 million revenue bond measure. Mayor Kelly Boyd and council member Toni Iseman dissented. Boyd objected to proceeding without putting the measure before voters [...]
The latest design concept for Laguna Beach’s long-awaited downtown village entrance as well as how to finance the estimated $42 million project goes under review tonight in a special 6 p.m. meeting of the City Council. The concept envisions a park with pedestrian pathways replacing the current asphalt parking lot at the town’s gateway on [...]
A dedicated trolley lane downtown and smaller, open-air shuttles were suggested as transit alternatives during a Planning Commission workshop about updating Laguna Beach’s Downtown Specific Plan, an area bounded by Legion Street to the south and Cliff Drive to the north. About 30 locals attended to weigh in on the three topics up for discussion: [...]
The City Council green-lighted imposing flexible rates on Laguna Beach’s parking meters, among a series of recommendations in a parking management study considered on Tuesday. Other measures council members seemed keen on implementing soon included a shared valet parking system and incentivizing owners of private lots to open them to the public. These were just [...]
After a presentation on Laguna Beach’s defensible space, where firefighters can safely make a stand against an oncoming fire, City Council member Bob Whalen on Tuesday pushed his colleagues to consider measures to broaden such boundaries. As a result, the council agreed to consider the interior canyons identified by the fire department most in need [...]
Higher parking rates may be among the first changes to affect locals and tourists, if Laguna Beach’s City Council endorses a parking management plan slated for review on Tuesday. The latest draft of the 168-page plan lays out the vision of Irvine-based RBF Consulting, who examined parking in downtown and along Laguna Canyon Road with [...]
U.S. District Court Judge David O. Carter last week dismissed all claims but one in a lawsuit filed last March by Leonard Porto, alleging civil rights violations and challenging the legality of Laguna Beach’s treatment of the homeless on multiple fronts. Laguna’s City Attorney Phil Kohn sought to dismiss the suit in its entirety last [...]
Incumbents for four spots on the Arts Commission and two spots on the Planning Commission whose terms expired were re-appointed by the City Council last week. In a surprise turn, the council voted in six members for the Arts Commission, expanding its roster to nine members with the addition of two newcomers, David Emmes, the [...]
For the second time this month, Mayor Kelly Boyd voiced his belief that the city’s largest pending capital improvement project, the estimated $50 million village entrance parking structure and strip park, should not go forward without voter approval. Boyd’s statement came as part of a “State of the City” address Tuesday, where he, City Manager [...]
A second herd of goats will start foraging in open spaces surrounding Laguna Beach to help maintain a fuel break beginning June 1. The city’s Fire Department requested adding more of the four-footed fuel-consumers due to this winter’s scant rainfall, resulting in plants with low moisture levels that easily burn. The state Department of Forestry [...]
View preservation and public safety received top billing at Laguna Beach’s City Council, which heard testimony Tuesday on progress by a committee drafting a new view ordinance and from staff investigating the addition of video surveillance cameras downtown and at the city’s exit points. Larry Nokes, chair of the view equity committee established in January, [...]
Few surprises surfaced in the public workshop held Tuesday as Laguna Beach’s city staff presented a proposed two-year budget, outlining estimated expenditures of $68.5 million for the coming fiscal year and of $67.6 million for the following year. City Council members largely endorsed staff recommendations for use of a $1.1 million windfall in the general [...]
Comments raised during a hearing Tuesday served to highlight key points of contention in a draft Laguna Beach view ordinance, such as balancing the right to a view with the pleasure of foliage, the perimeter allowed for a claim, and whether the date of purchase matters in determining view rights. Of a smaller crowd of [...]
When Laguna Beach resident Bette Anderson’s husband Ken suffered a severe stroke in 2009, his convalescence involved months in nursing care in San Juan Capistrano and Laguna Woods as well as a stint at home requiring 24-hour help. For the months her husband, in his 80s, was in the nursing homes, Anderson made the daily [...]
Ill Prepared Hiker Rescued from Hillside
A sheriff’s helicopter was used to extract a hiker who suffered an anxiety attack and was unable to move from a steep trail in Laguna Beach’s open space about 6 p.m. Sunday, June 9, police said. Lifeguards in an all-terrain vehicle coordinated the extraction from thick brush and a steep slope between Alta Laguna Park [...]
