Editor,
Laguna Beach City Council held a special meeting (Tuesday, March 26) to present two plans for the village entrance, giving a net gain of roughly 200 parking spaces at a cost of $33 to $55 Million. That is a lumped average cost of $220,000 per parking space. The plans include substantial park grounds and pathways connecting ends and points of interest.
Councilwoman Elisabeth Pearson presented the first plan while Councilwoman Toni Iseman delivered the second. During her presentation councilwoman Pearson emphasized this astonishing quote, “get rid of a sea of cars; cars look unattractive,” followed by “our spending reflects community values.” Next councilwoman Iseman followed with, “we don’t like people in cars; we like them on their feet.”
Despite four to five years of community input and educating the council on this topic, no council member uttered the words complete street policy. Sorry folks, it never happened. Those task force meetings you attended, you were only dreaming. If we spent $33-55 million on a real mobility plan for Laguna Beach, we could adopt a true multi-modal transport plan that would eliminate cars, not just hide them at $220,000 each. But I must be dreaming.
Les Miklosy, Laguna Beach
