Recently, I attended a City Council meeting and then the next night a Planning Commission meeting. Depressing. I’m wondering who in a position of authority is looking out for Laguna residents, for the Laguna that we all moved here to be a part of?
City Council made the right, fiscally responsible, decision to restore the digester so it can still be used for police file storage and maintain some vestige of its former self as a WPA building. But it was a slugfest to get the City Council to do this. Originally, they voted 3-2 to move toward demolishing it. Only the generous action of the MacGillivrays and the many voices from residents convinced them to save it. Then came the issue of funding for the Downtown Action Plan for $1.6 million where they want to cut down all the trees on lower Forest Avenue. Again, residents had to speak to tell the council not to kill healthy trees and the look of our downtown by replacing them with small 10-foot-tall trees. They voted to fund this.
Planning Commission heard yet again another consultant’s report on how to revitalize downtown. They agreed the conditional user permit process for new business needed to be revised. It’s too restrictive and has driven potential businesses away. They talked about how to attract high-end stores which they think will save downtown. Where will all these people park? There’s no parking now. If I was a high-end shopper from outside Laguna and couldn’t find a parking spot easily, I wouldn’t return.
They are creating new problems for businesses without providing any benefit to residents. Are they going to build new parking structures? Where — the Village Entrance – I doubt it? The city just bought the library land. Are you going to tear down the library for a parking structure? But most importantly who will pay for this? Of course it will be the residents, and not the commercial landowners in downtown who benefit most from this. How? Bonds? Special tax assessment? The tax money that the city gets from the downtown businesses is only 6% of our total revenue. Residents pay the lion’s share of city revenue through our property taxes.
Who is looking out for residents?
Cesar Ferrer, Laguna Beach
