A few years ago, a new Laguna City Council majority determined to eliminate the protections residents put in place to keep our historic structures safe from developers. These protections took decades to create and implement. They are what kept Laguna Beach so unique.
The City’s proposal to accomplish this is now before the California Coastal Commission (CCC).
(Feb. 10 Agenda item 9 (b) –Laguna Beach Historic Preservation Program, LCP Amendment No. LCP-5-LGB-20-0053-1)
To be effective an ordinance cannot be “voluntary.” It cannot operate with the restriction of requiring “owner consent.” Approving the City Council’s proposed limits on being able to implement the California Environmental Quality Act, and limits on the government’s ability to implement its preservation policies, opening a Pandora’s box that threatens other laws that some could request be “voluntary” too.
We must ask the CCC to deny this application, reject the concept of “owner consent” and direct that the City return with a truly preservation-oriented submittal. We can send an email to [email protected] before Feb. 9.
We, in Laguna, have come to consider the California Coastal Commission as the protector of our history, culture, and environment.
We should write and ask the CCC to not betray those who continue to rely on their good judgment to save us from developers who only wish to destroy in order to profit from that destruction.
Laguna Beach needs a protector. Please ask the CCC to be that protector for us once again
Armando Baez, Laguna Beach
