Editor,
Secured funding for further study of the village entrance monument/parking structure? Really??? Get over it. That “vision” has the appearance of an ego driven monument and a significant waste of money compared to what might be accomplished with the input of proper planning and consensus.
I understand that parking spaces must be provided but realistically, it does not matter how many places we provide, there are more homes being built, more people that will want to visit Laguna than we will ever have spaces for. The result being that without a comprehensive, overall plan, we will have done nothing to alleviate the congestion that limits business, local access, use, value, freedom of movement, and enjoyment of our city.
The earmarked study money indicates a strong intent to continue down the path of primarily focusing on the current village entrance plan. The advent of self-driving cars in less than 10 years means there is no reason that a parking structure needs to be so close and in fact, can be put in lower cost and less space constrained areas. The considerations need to be much more open than they seem at present.
The bigger problem is that our city leadership has failed to build a consensus after all thought and effort already expended. Now the best they seem to be capable of is to continue to expend money on something that has already proven to be divisive rather than a result of a common vision.
This failure to create consensus represents a lack of leadership. Instead of focusing on divisive solutions, we need people who can create and effectively communicate a shared vision of what all this is supposed to accomplish. If there is a shared vision of our future Laguna, people will have differing views of how to get there but at least be aligned in going the same direction and out of that can come a genuine compromise and consensus.
I’m still hearing a lot of different ideas about what the vision of a future Laguna looks like. Until we can at least agree upon what the city should be trying to accomplish, how can the details be determined with any general agreement? Let’s make sure we get the opportunity to rethink this whole approach without the bias, get some effective urban planning, and find the leadership to build a common consensus for the future.
David Forsyth, Laguna Beach
