Editor,
After my wife and I watched Tuesday’s village entrance meeting on March 26, we were very impressed with the quality of Elizabeth Pearson’s presentation that addressed all of the relevant topics. After so many years, we were beginning to doubt that the city would ever get past the “handshake deals” that led to no action. We were even further astounded that the council finally took immediate action! This was a great week for the citizens and businesses of our beloved Laguna Beach village.
Elizabeth’s most resonating argument, that the traditional local naysayers chose to ignore, identified the future Irvine residential development impact on our already congested beach city. The reality is that most visitors want to walk to the Festival grounds, restaurants and downtown; intercepting them at ACT V is not a long term solution on a year-around basis. Thanks to her leadership on this issue, and the majority of the council’s vision, we finally can make the long overdue progress needed while interest rates are low. As a city, we are incredibly fortunate that we have Robert Whalen’s financial expertise in presenting, with Elizabeth, a viable financing strategy to the council in May.
Curt & Jan Bartsch, Laguna Beach
