Opinion: Ready or Not – It’s Time!

By Joe Hanauer

It’s just a few days until the election. Yet surprisingly, people still are wondering if they understand Measure Q.   

The confusion shouldn’t be surprising. First, Q is extremely complicated. Second, California’s ballot measure concept has morphed into competing advertising campaigns that dominated my sound bites, having nothing whatsoever to do with the essence of the proposals.  

Unfortunately, the consequences of most ballot measures are so serious that we really need a measure that outlaws misleading rhetoric, limits the number of pages of a measure, and holds those campaigning accountable for what they say. The seriousness of Measure Q is no exception.

If you’re like many, you may think Measure Q deals with keeping Laguna beautiful or only avoids oversized developments. You wouldn’t be at fault. Measure Q’s sound bites have repeatedly been showing the artist live work project in the Canyon as a size it would prohibit. Not true. 

That project is below the size that would kick in a public vote.

But that’s not all. 

Measure Q has what it calls a Beautiful Laguna Overlay Zone. Q has nothing to do with design, architecture, color, vision, or anything to do with ‘beauty.’ The Beautiful Laguna Overlay Zone is simply a name given to the geography Measure Q is proposing to dominate. Every single commercial area in town, as well as residences within two to three blocks of our commercial areas. They’ll all be subject to Q’s restrictions and a potential public vote.

The crazy part about Q is that it will do the opposite of addressing our town’s beauty. By causing Laguna’s business neighborhoods to be subject to new restrictions, the needed upgrading of our aging and deteriorating buildings will be stymied.

Laguna’s nearly one hundred years old, and we’re showing our age. Changes to our treasures like The Ranch, the Old Pottery Place or the smallest buildings like the 1400 s.f new coffee shop on Broadway are hard enough to get approved without adding the risk, time and cost of a public vote on top of our City’s stringent approval processes.  

You see, buildings typically get ‘beautified’ when ownership changes or new tenants move in. 

But smaller one-of-a-kind dining, fitness and retail concepts can’t take on the risks proposed by Q. Instead, we’ll get the opposite of what Measure Q promises. Only deep-pocket developers will pick up vacant stores and take on the risk and expense of this complex process.  

Q is devoid of the heart and soul you would expect in a Beautiful Laguna Overlay Zone. It’s eighteen pages of highly technical material. 

There’s nothing about a vision for Laguna. But to be clear, the writers and supporters of Q love our town as much as we do. So, how can two such passionate views differ so greatly about how to address Laguna’s future?

Consider the differing approaches to addressing traffic. Q posits that businesses cause Laguna’s traffic problems, and it proposes to put a damper on new shops and dining. And for those who can survive Q’s challenges, these businesses must address 100 percent of any impact they create.  

NO ON Q understands that our beautiful beaches and wonderful Laguna experience attract visitors, not businesses. And NO ON Q believes that beyond shops providing parking, the City must address parking and traffic capacities. There is no word in Measure Q about potential City actions to add parking capacity or to work with Caltrans to improve the capacity of our roads. 

This is just one example of the disconnect between our differing points of view. Time’s run out. It’s time to vote. If you don’t understand Q, go to Citizensforlagunasfuture.com. The entire ballot initiative is there. Please read it. If you do, we hope you’ll agree – Vote NO ON Q.

Joe owns multiple Laguna Beach commercial properties where he’s completed multiple major renovations and remodeling. Among them is the Old Pottery Place and 580 Broadway.