The California Coastal Commission unanimously approved a modified Downtown Specific Plan update late Wednesday, capping a years-long effort by Laguna Beach to ease permitting and parking requirements for some new businesses.
Pending a procedural vote by the Laguna Beach City Council early next year, conditional use permits will only be required for new bars, restaurants, live entertainment venues, and souvenir shops. All other commercial uses would be permitted-by-right, avoiding time-intensive, costly review by city staffers and the Planning Commission.
Mayor Sue Kempf said she was very pleased with the Coastal Commission’s decision, adding that the incremental change that’s possible because of the updated Downtown Specific Plan will be very healthy for the City.
“We don’t need to make big changes but we do need to tweak our business offerings to residents and visitors,” Kempf said.
She credited the success to Community Development Director Marc Wiener working closely with Coastal Commission staffers to present a modified plan on Wednesday that worked for both agencies.
A cornerstone of the new plan is slashing on-site parking requirements, which have long been a barrier for new businesses to move into buildings that were developed without designated parking spaces.
Under the outgoing rules, retail business owners have to provide one parking space per 250 square feet of gross floor area. Likewise, food service businesses have to provide one space for every 100 square feet of gross floor area. To get around this requirement, business owners often elect to pay the city an in-lieu fee to help fund a future parking structure.
The new parking requirement would be three spaces for every 1,000 square feet of gross floor area for certain commercial uses. City staff clarified that businesses that have operated for decades with “legal nonconforming parking conditions” will be allowed to stay open as long as they don’t intensify their commercial use.
Village Laguna and others opposed to the Downtown Specific Plan update argued it will incentivize property owners to replace existing uses like retail stores with high-intensity uses like bars and restaurants.
“We oppose the reduction of parking requirements or new businesses,” Village Laguna president Anne Caenn wrote in a letter to the Commission. “Existing businesses would not benefit from it. The reduction would allow the customers of intensified uses to compete for the limited number of spaces that exist now without the new businesses having to provide parking spaces to compensate for their impact.”
Councilmembers Toni Iseman and George Weiss offered comments as individuals opposing the plan before the Coastal Commission. Weiss joined the City Council after a majority of councilmembers had already signed off on the Downtown Specific Plan.
Despite city staffers’ efforts to a sensor-based smart parking program, provide visitors with free trolley rides from Irvine parking lots, and pilot a Laguna Local on-demand van service, most people will continue using their cars to get to Laguna Beach, Weiss said. He added that trimming parking requirements for certain businesses will aggravate a congested downtown.
“The reality is vehicles whether electric or fuel will bring visitors into town for many, many years to come,” Weiss said.
This story is developing and will be updated as necessary.
Of course Toni and George opposed. They are out of touch with what a majority of the town want to see. This is a step in the right direction and much needed for Laguna Beach. Kudos to the Coastal Commission and thank you to Marc Weiner’s department on a job well done. I hope to continue to see this kind of progress that benefits the entire town, contrary to what the “no patrol” would have you think.