Editor,
I’m reading where the City of Laguna Beach is again talking parking studies. I have no idea how much money we have spent in my taxpayer dollars over the 30 years I have lived here on this issue.
There is a simple solution to help in the parking woes. Quit allowing developers variances and minimums to the required parking. An example is the Coast Inn, which requires approximately 400 parking spaces for the new intended use and the planning department wants to allow the minimum of 14 spaces! Crazy isn’t it?
Do our planners not live in Laguna and understand the problem? Are they not speaking to City Council or vice versa? Why have planners leading architects and developers in a direction to be turned down at City Council and their time and money on redesign.
If 400 spaces are required, build 400 spaces. The city does not have to compromise to protect our quality of life. After all, this is not Huntington Beach (yet).
As a developer myself, every city I have built in has never let us have less than required parking. Why should we allow our neighborhoods to be filled with valets that are already all over taking every space as soon as someone leaves. If I go to the market to get milk, there is nowhere to park when I get home.
The old “grandfathered” use needs to be changed and required parking upheld. Our grandfathers didn’t intend for our taxpayer neighborhoods to be filled with cars and valets at the expense of residents.
Larry Lewis, Laguna Beach
Mr. Lewis speaks to the Walmart solution to Laguna’s parking woes, like this: https://lagunastreets.blogspot.com/2017/08/hoboken-ny-parking-solution.html See Mr. Lewis for the sign-up petition.