Redesign of Beach Access Points Underway

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Editor

FYI Laguna: Four of the public beach access overlooks are currently proposed to be back pulled to the street, minimized, and the current beach views will be diminished. The existing benches, pathways, overlooks and viewing decks to Thalia, Oak, Mountain, and Agate Streets are being redesigned, as a single project, and will be heard by the Design Review Board on Jan. 22 at 6 p.m. at City Hall. There will be no public notification for this Jan. 22nd meeting and most of Laguna is completely unaware of the proposed redesigns.

Below is the link to the city’s proposal for these four parks. Please study the drawings carefully. The proposed design, in pale yellow, is shown as an overlay to the existing conditions, drawn in faint gray. If you can find the existing benches, you can orient yourself.

Diminishing and removing existing benches, pathways, overlooks, and viewing decks to Thalia, Mountain and Agate Street should be of concern to all who frequent the beach. At Thalia Street, the double tiered deck, benches and flat pathways are to be removed. At Mountain Street, the bench and the lower overlook are to be removed. At Agate Street, the bench is to be removed and the new viewing area will be pulled back to the street, put in a corner, oriented to only face south, and will only accommodate five to six people. Cold hard concrete “seat walls” and “seat buttons”, without seat backs, do not enhance anyone’s enjoyment of the currently enjoyed Laguna Beach assets.

Also, the lower overlook landings and their coveted viewpoints at Mountain and Agate Street will be either butchered and/or completely removed, creating choke points on tight corners. Anyone with a surfboard, SUP board, kayak, beach gear, or even emergency life saving equipment will find it difficult to navigate these tighter corners. As a beach access enhancement project, this does not expand or enhance the public usage of the existing access.

If you share these concerns, please speak up before the Jan. 22 vote or come to the meeting. Contact the city’s liaison, Tom Sandefur (tsandefur@lagunabeachcity.net) or more important, contact our Design Review Board members. Please, spread the word. Public input can make a difference. Our beaches are the gateway to our city and the keystone to our lifestyle.

http://lagunabeachcity.net/civicax/filebank/blobdload.aspx?BlobID=10663

If unable to open,the link, go to:

lagunabeachcity.net, Urban Planning Coordinating Committee, Public Works, Capitol Improvement Program, Beach Access Improvements Concept Plans (Update Dec. 2014).

Peter Mann, Laguna Beach

 

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