I have made several requests to city folks about changing some of our parking laws. My concern is in the event of an emergency and we need to evacuate. I think that on some of our narrow streets, especially those with a dead end, that folks should be able to legally park on both sides of the street provided they’re ready to drive out and not have to turn around.
Also, those who park their cars in their driveways should back up their cars into the driveway so that drivers can pull their cars out faster rather than taking time to back up and turn around. That leaves those of who us who have room in our garages to park our cars in the garage. We need time to get out of there too instead of creating a traffic jam to all rushing to get our at the same time. We can minimize our exit time by being prepared in this manner as well. There will be pandemonium as those folks who have not worked out an exit process for themselves and their families take over the roads.
Fire season may never be over in the West and every bit of the details needs to be thought out and rehearsed with family and pets. Those who live in the upper limits of our city will need more time to get down—so let’s be civil and calm should that happen. I remember the fire in 1993 and although many homes were destroyed it only affected one area of Laguna. Those at Top of the World were directed to the Fire Road. Others were asked to evacuate only voluntarily.
So far no one in city hall has shown an interest in addressing this part of our evacuation process.
Ganka Brown, Laguna Beach