Editor,
The article on the sober living home next to TOW Elementary highlights a growing problem that is destroying the heart of numerous coastal communities throughout California. While it appears that local governments’ hands are tied due to state and federal protections, we as community members must remember that we can stop an epidemic of sober living facilities in Laguna Beach.
Those of us that are homeowners, landlords and real estate agents determine who purchases or rents our homes. As a homeowner looking to sell or rent, are we just in it for the money or do we care about the impact our decision has on our neighbors? As a real estate agent, do you believe that you are a member of this paradise by the sea, or are you only looking to squeeze short-term profits any way that you can?
Each of us has a choice. We have the ability to protect what makes Laguna Beach such a special place to live. Selling or renting a home is never just a dollars and cents transaction. It is an invitation for someone to join a community, and it is your decision as an owner or landlord whether your buyer or renter will be someone who brings a positive long-term influence on your neighborhood.
As a real estate broker, you have the choice to get to know the people who are looking to work with your clients. You get to tell your clients about who you think would be a benefit to the community. You can find families who will make excellent long-term neighbors, or you can just sell to faceless businesses that extract their profits from at-risk individuals.
If we believe that single families and not businesses should be located in residential districts, then it is up to us to ensure only single families move in. It is up to us to applaud and support home owners, landlords and real estate brokers who care enough about the character of Laguna Beach to ensure single families move into their properties as opposed to detoxes and rehabs with monthly turnovers.
And for those that don’t care and put profits over people, then they have every right to make that choice. But we have every right to tell the rest of our community who they are and to choose not to work with them.
Stephen E. Goldstein, Laguna Beach
