Editor,
One of Laguna Beach’s major hotels is smack in the middle of downtown Laguna. At a recent meeting of the Planning Commission, the general manager of that hotel objected to a proposed rooftop dining facility across the street because of anticipated noise and loss of privacy.
Visitors to Laguna hotels have a wide choice of hotels to select from, and may intentionally choose to be in the middle of town because of the noise and excitement. Surely, traffic noise from the highway below far exceeds the noise from a rooftop dining facility across the wide highway. The proposed facility will use a double-paned glass enclosure to contain noise, and may even be forced to eliminate music (please, no)!
As to privacy from invented “peeping toms” across the street, the hotel must have, or can get, curtains or drapes to thwart the “toms”.
Inversely, the “toms” could be registered guests of the hotel, looking inside-out to see who’s with whom on the rooftop deck across the street (heaven forbid).
This letter would not be worth the paper it’s printed on, except that one commissioner cannot “find” for this project because of the objection from the hotel across the street. In accordance with the Downtown Specific Plan, the commissioners must find there is no impact on abutting property.
Abutting does not include properties across the street. Look up “abut” in the dictionary under the A’s, and then check the C’s for curtains and the D’s drapes.
For future enjoyment, I recommend your attendance at meetings of the Planning Commission (every second Wednesday at 6 p.m. at the City Hall). It’s the best show in town.
Allan Simon, Laguna Beach
The author is the owner of the Indy and Firebrand Media.
Thank you Allan. Downtown Laguna Beach is all about energy and vibrancy. It’s what attracts people to our town at night.
It strikes me that this is little more than an attempt to mitigate competition. The world’s great cities seek ways to enhance the entertainment experience, not mute it. Hotel guests to cities everywhere understand privacy is only a drawn curtain away.