A proposal from Caltrans to raise speed limits on sections of Coast Highway received a skeptical response this past Tuesday from Laguna Beach’s City Council, which asked its Parking Traffic and Circulation Committee to thoroughly investigate the planned changes before the Council issues a formal response to the state agency. Residents and Council members alike […]
Expected to hire a consultant to explore burying utilities citywide on Tuesday, the City Council instead delayed their decision as a result of surprising testimony during a public hearing. Laguna Beach resident Dennis Eastman, a former 40-year Southern California Edison executive, came forward to volunteer an insider’s insight and assurances that by “thinking out of […]
The City Council ratified a four-year contract Tuesday awarding firefighters a 4.5 percent pay raise that nevertheless fails to completely offset the rate increase in their own contributions to retirement benefits. The pact ends nearly a year of contentious negotiations with the Orange County Firefighters Association Local 3631. The city expects to save about $175,000 […]
Each time a utility pole topples on Laguna Canyon Road it emphasizes the town’s vulnerability. Residents most often contend with the traffic jam that results from a crash scene under investigation or a downed live wire or the disruption caused by a power outage. Yet the inconvenience of congestion and spoiled goods pales compared to […]
As a youngster growing up in Laguna Beach, Chris Dornin considered himself steeped in artists. The high school’s teams then were still named Artists, rather than the current Breakers. He studied art with retired art teacher Peter Tiner, entering projects in local art competitions. Many of Dornin’s childhood friends have now become working artists. Some, […]
Coordination of Laguna Beach’s many initiatives and paying for pension costs surfaced as priorities at the City Council’s recent planning retreat. At a time when many of the hot-button projects begun in the last year have yet to be finalized, it comes as no surprise that Council members largely opted to stay the course and […]
The campaign over the hotly debated artists’ work/live project on Laguna Canyon Road continues unabated, with opponents and proponents each sending missives in anticipation of a City Council hearing next month over local sculptor Louis Longi’s proposal. In a twist little known outside the canyon neighborhood, the project was made possible by one of its […]
Ideas on how to induce more people to use Laguna Beach’s $2.2 million public transit system as a way to tame downtown congestion grabbed the limelight at a public workshop on Monday. About 60 residents showed up at the Susi Q Center to offer feedback following an analysis of Laguna’s buses, summer trolleys, taxi voucher […]
Even as Laguna Beach’s shoreline evokes images of hidden coves rather than buried treasures, a forgotten landmark was recently unearthed during restoration of an Ocean Avenue building, originally home to the now defunct Laguna Federal Savings and Loan Association. The project team knew of a wall-size fountain turned off long ago when a courtyard receded […]
Staff recommendations for a scaled-back $14.4 million plan to create an inviting landscaped pathway between City Hall and the Laguna Canyon art festivals seemed to stymie City Council members and the public alike during a presentation Tuesday. After weighing the scope, budget and design process, the City Council put off several decisions, but gave the […]
Residents with an opinion about their experience getting around town – whether riding the bus, pedaling a bike, pushing a stroller or driving a car — can get in on a conversation underway as Laguna Beach pursues two transit related initiatives. Vancouver-based IBI Group studies Laguna’s public transportation options even as a city-wide mobility plan […]
A scheduled appeal of a decision approving a hotly debated artists’ work/live project on Laguna Canyon Road was put off by the City Council on Tuesday. Opponents, mostly residents of nearby Sun Valley Drive, maintain that the 16,192-square-foot structure spanning two adjacent lots at 20412 and 20432 Laguna Canyon Road violates the Laguna Canyon Annexation […]
If a neighbor’s unchecked vegetation now blocks the view that enticed you to buy your home, the latest draft of a proposed Laguna Beach view ordinance may provide recourse, thanks to one of three key changes made following the most recent public hearing in December. The view committee and city staff earlier this month agreed […]
Maybe you know of a family with a son or daughter diagnosed with a disabling mental condition, such as adult onset schizophrenia. They likely have described their difficulties finding effective medication, and the remote possibility of their 20-something ever carving out an independent life away from home. Consider the foster child in similar straits and […]
Red flag fire-danger warnings will usher in a new challenge along the narrow, twisting streets of Laguna Beach’s Diamond Crestview neighborhood: a temporary no-parking ban and the risk of being towed. To better ensure that fire engines will not be impeded by parked cars, the City Council adopted a pilot program to test limited parking […]
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Excavating a Vault in La… : Even as Laguna Beach’s shoreline evokes images of hidde...1 commentSpeaker's Corner: School … : By Howard Hills
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