Community Development Director highlights programs focused on business improvement, economic development

By SARA HALL

There are a number of business improvement, economic development focused programs in the works, a city department head shared this week.

Laguna Beach Chamber of Commerce Government Affairs Committee held their regular meeting via Zoom on Thursday (May 4) with Community Development Director Marc Wiener as the featured speaker.

Wiener started with Laguna Beach in late 2019 and hit the ground running. 

“It’s been a really busy three and a half years,” he said. “We’re always staying busy and there’s a lot of exciting things in the works.” 

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Photo by Mary Hurlbut

Community Development Director Marc Wiener

A project they’re working on, which was just approved as part of the community development workplan, is a commercial district beautification and property maintenance ordinance, which was identified as a shared priority at the council’s annual planning workshop on January 28. The ordinance will provide better tools to ensure that properties are maintained in good condition in the Downtown and other commercial districts. It is expected to be adopted by March 2024.

“It’s going to give the city some more enforcement authority to require property commercial owners to keep their buildings in good condition,” Wiener explained. “I think that’s going to be really helpful.” 

It could include updated paint or fixing any deteriorated features on the building, he said. It will also cover financial hardships, if for some reason there’s a challenge for the property owner to be able to make those improvements.

“I think we want to be able to raise the level of the commercial properties in town, but without being too heavy handed. It’s not a one-size-fits-all,” Wiener said. 

Additionally, they’re also working on commercial design guidelines with a Planning Commission subcommittee. As part of that project, they studied the commercial corridors throughout the city and noticed that Laguna Beach has an interesting building stock. 

“We have a lot of great buildings, but some of them would just really benefit from new paint, updated paint and landscaping,” Wiener said. “It could really improve the aesthetic of our town.”

 These improvements could be done while keeping with the character of the community, he added. Not every building needs to be demolished and rebuilt, he said, there are a lot of good buildings to work with. 

As part of this effort of property maintenance and repair, they are trying to enforce, but also encourage commercial property owners to keep their buildings in good condition. They are showing property owners simulated renderings of sections of Coast Highway and what the buildings could look like if they were updated.

“We want people to be able to envision how much better their sites could look with this and get them excited about it,” Wiener said. 

He also discussed a new service the city has called CoStar that maps out where the commercial vacancies are throughout the city. The new tool shows a map and list of available properties along with details like the leasing agent contact information and the average rental rate. They can utilize it to identify where there are opportunities within the city, he said.

“We want to make that available to the public,” and are in the process of seeing how to make it work, Wiener said. 

At this point, he’s unsure if they will post a link to the CoStar map or if the city will create their own customized map. They could add specifics like the allowed uses and city information, he explained. 

They are also in the process of an “economic development effort” to search for potential business tenants to fill the vacant spaces, Wiener said. The city hired a consultant to help with the effort, he added. They’re currently focusing on the Downtown and are in the process of developing marketing materials as well.

“We’re really looking to try to attract some high-quality businesses to our town, in particular the Downtown,” Wiener said. “It starts with understanding, knowing, where the opportunities are, but then also working on marketing the city because we have a lot to offer as a city. It’s a beautiful place. We get over six million visitors, we get a lot of foot traffic. And I think there’s a lot of reasons why a business would want to come here.”

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Photo by Mary Hurlbut

Play Coffee moving into the formerly vacant 500 Broadway is one example of a recently approved business under the new Downtown Specific Plan

They’ve also seen some new businesses get approved under the new Downtown Specific Plan, he noted, like the Laguna Fish Company, Play Coffee and Rye Goods.

“We’ve also had a number of businesses that have been subject to the more streamlined process for allowing them to open in the Downtown and I think we’re just scratching the surface of that,” Wiener said. “I do think it’s been effective and especially the update to the parking standards has allowed for more flexibility and land use and we see property owners capitalizing on that, and that’s a really good thing.”

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Commission continues request to demolish 1914 cottage, build parking lot by Presbyterian Church

By SARA HALL

The Planning Commission this week decided to hold off on a decision on a request by the Laguna Presbyterian Church to demolish an unoccupied bungalow cottage built in 1914 and construct and temporarily use the property as a parking lot for private use by the church.

Commissioners voted 5-0 on Wednesday (May 3) to continue an application for a temporary use permit and a coastal development permit for the demolition of an existing structure and the construction and use of a new parking lot at 359 3rd St. The application is slated to return to the commission on July 13.

There was confusion from commissioners on several issues, including: The landscape plan, or lack thereof, and whether or not 11 trees would be removed from the site or the adjacent parcel and how they impact this request; the actual historical status of the building, which was unclear if it had previously held a C-rating or K-rating, and whether they are obliged to consider the entire record of historic assessments under the city’s new and revised historic preservation ordinance and confusion about the demolition and an overall lack of clarity on what they were being asked to approve.

A landscape plan wasn’t included since it’s a TUP not a full conditional use permit application, explained Planning Manager Amber Dobson.

Even though this is a TUP, there is some need to reconfigure landscape so it should have been part of the staff report, said Commission Chair Jorg Dubin. 

“How are we to ensure that the new mystical landscaping project…without seeing a plan for that how are we assured that that’s actually going to happen?” he asked. 

The commission could require it through conditions of approval or continue the item and request that information, Dobson answered. 

“We didn’t feel it was necessary, but obviously we were wrong,” Dobson said, answering a commissioner question about why staff didn’t already request that information.

Commissioner Susan McLintock Whitin proposed the commission continue the item and direct staff to “do a reset” and return with answers to their questions and a more complete report. 

“It seems clear that a landscape plan should have been included with this,” Ed Sauls, commenting on behalf of the church, said after the commissioners commented about continuing the item, which he agreed to and confirmed that they will “clear up” the tree issue. 

Associate Planner Arlen Beck read from the staff report that “the applicant is also requesting 11 of the existing 12 trees be removed in the parking lot at 361 and 363 3rd St., however, this request is only for the parcel at 359 3rd St. and the applicant may submit an application to remove the trees in the parking lot at 361 and 363 3rd St. at a later date.” 

They applied for the removal of those trees, but that wasn’t the item before the commission on Wednesday and it’s not included in the current application, Dobson said, answering a commissioner question about why they are requesting to remove so many trees. 

Staff also noted that there are two new trees proposed to be installed along the area of the new parking spaces.

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Rendering courtesy of City of Laguna Beach

A rendering of the proposed site plan for the requested parking lot

“It is a little confusing. They want to remove all the trees and here we are planting (two) more trees,” Whitin said.

Other commissioners agreed that it was unclear in the staff report. 

Branden Sjulin, the applicant for the project on behalf of the church, said there are three trees included in the requested TUP that they would like to remove. It’s specific to those trees due to the root disturbance and heaving of the parking lot, he said. Removing those three trees would allow them to resurface the parking lot so it’s smooth, level and safe to traverse when parking.

In terms of conflict with general plan components, there are policies that consider the issue of neighborhood character and Downtown village character, noted Commissioner Steve Kellenberg, but they weren’t included or mentioned in the staff report. 

The staff report should actually discuss the General Plan elements that relate to neighborhood character – not just historic and cultural – but neighborhood character because it does seem that it is a relevant general plan policy as part of this discussion, Kellenberg said. 

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On the agenda for council: ADU amendments, community development workplan, replacement of damaged Promenade decks

By SARA HALL

Laguna Beach City Council will consider a variety of interesting items during their meeting tonight.

At tonight's meeting (Tuesday, May 2), during regular business and on the consent calendar, council will hear and/or consider: Amendments to the city code and Local Coastal Program regarding accessory dwelling units; community development workplan with priority projects set at the council planning workshop; emergency contract to replace the Promenade on Forest’s decks, which were damaged during the recent winter storms; replacement ballistic helmets for the police department; utility assessment district on Diamond Street and several council reviews. 

Last up during regular business, council will consider amendments to the city code and Local Coastal Program, as modified by the California Coastal Commission, that will repeal and replace the chapter about second residential units with a section covering accessory dwelling units and junior ADUs.

Council adopted zoning and LCP amendments on Dec. 14, 2021, related to the regulation of ADUs. Coastal commissioners reviewed and certified the amendments on February 9 and conditioned their approval with several of their own modifications, which were primarily intended to bring the city’s ADU ordinance into better conformity with state laws, which went into effect on January 1.

Most notable was that the height allowance of a detached ADU was increased from 16 to 18 feet, and there is a new by-right allowance for second story attached ADUs that can be a maximum of 25 feet, next week’s staff report on the item explains. Additionally, the CCC made modifications to the parking standards by requiring on-site replacement parking for the primary residence when a garage is converted to an ADU. To provide flexibility, the replacement parking spaces may be uncovered, tandem and located in the front yard setback. The original ordinance did not require replacement parking in those situations.

Councilmembers unanimously voted in support of the code amendments on Nov. 16, 2021, although there were some concerns, primarily about parking. Council previously reviewed an earlier draft version of the ordinance and made some recommendations to staff, it was then sent back to the Planning Commission, who suggested their own changes. The revised version was aimed at complying with state regulations and being more flexible for ADUs.

At a joint City Council and Planning Commission housing workshop on April 6, 2021, officials reviewed and provided input on the draft 6th Cycle Housing Element. The discussion included an ADU amnesty program, which could help bring currently illegal ADUs up to code and count toward the city’s Regional Housing Needs Assessment, which is 394 units for Laguna Beach’s current cycle.

The ADU program (program five in the Housing Plan section) in the draft Housing Element document is meant to ease restrictions on ADUs and provide incentives for their development or preservation.

In response to the state’s housing crisis, California law was amended in 2017 to incentivize a DU development by creating minimum standards that all local agencies were required to implement.

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Photo by Mary Hurlbut 

Council will consider the community development workplan next week, which includes blufftop and major remodel regulations 

Also during regular business, council will review and approve the proposed community development workplan for updates to the general plan, zoning code and specific plans.

At the council’s annual planning workshop on January 28, several of the identified priorities were focused on updating the city’s plans and codes. During next week’s item, staff will report back to the council with a summary of the proposed updates, tentative schedule an estimated cost. Staff is seeking the council’s affirmation on the scope of each project and prioritization.

The project prioritized at the top of the workplan for the next phase of land-use plan updates are housing code amendments. According to the staff report, the update is intended to reduce barriers to housing production as directed by multiple programs in the city’s certified housing element. The update would also create objective standards for multifamily housing projects to provide the city with greater discretion over design in response to recent state legislation.

Staff plans on initiating the project in June with local adoption aimed for June 2024. It will be done in-house so there is no external associated cost. An amendment to the Local Coastal Program is required, which will need to be certified by the CCC.

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Inside City Hall

Dear Laguna Beach Community,

On the heels of an eight-year drought, this winter’s relentless, record-breaking storms seem like an unequivocally good thing. Over the past years, fire departments have grown accustomed to dealing with dry winters and preparing for the fire season with minimal precipitation and vegetation growth. 

But this year will be different. Now that we’ve had the rain we needed, the vegetation throughout our community is growing faster and more densely than we’ve seen in several years. While many of our native plants can be more adapted to fire, invasive grasses and invasive mustards dry out and turn into light flashy fuels that have the potential to increase fire danger to our community in the coming months. 

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Courtesy of City of Laguna Beach

Laguna Beach Fire Chief Niko King

For decades, your Laguna Beach Fire Department has had fuel modification programs in place to protect the community from wildfires. Part of what makes our fuel modification program – and our community – so special is the habitat surrounding the City of Laguna Beach. We’re surrounded by some of the last coastal sage scrub habitats in the world, endangered plants like big-leaved crownbeard, wild bobcats and threatened species like cactus wren and gnatcatcher. Because of this, we developed a unique fuel modification program that strikes the balance between fire safety and habitat protection. 

Our program focuses on creating a wildfire-resistant landscape by thinning vegetation and removing particularly fire-prone dead brush and invasive species. This work can slow the speed at which a wildfire grows, giving us valuable time to evacuate and bring in resources to protect our homes and property. We have 27 different fuel modification zones in the city, and we work with contracted partners to make sure the work is done efficiently, effectively and sustainably.  The zones are located adjacent to neighborhoods and are intended to slow the progression of an encroaching wildfire. We assess, permit and modify each zone to make sure we’re increasing life safety and preserving property and our natural environment.

Our 2023 fuel modification program has been well underway for a couple of months now. Work will continue to thin vegetation growth in fuel modification zones to make sure our community is as prepared as possible before the hot dry summer months roll in, accompanied by the late fall wind events.

You can help by keeping an eye out for fire hazards in the community and prepare your own home to be fire safe:

–Clean roofs and gutters of dead leaves, debris and pine needles that could catch embers.

–Replace or repair any loose or missing shingles or roof tiles to prevent ember penetration.

–Reduce embers that could pass through vents in the eaves by installing 1/8-inch metal mesh screening.

–Clean debris from exterior attic vents and install 1/8-inch metal mesh screening to reduce embers.

–Repair or replace damaged or loose window screens and any broken windows.

–Screen or box-in areas below patios and decks with wire mesh to prevent debris and combustible materials from accumulating.

–Move any flammable material away from wall exteriors – mulch, flammable plants, leaves and needles, firewood piles – anything that can burn.

–Remove anything stored underneath decks and porches.

The fire department also provides a free wildlife consultation where our experienced staff will come to your home and offer advice about how you can prepare your property and landscape to best withstand a wildfire. Click the link above, or call 949.497.0700 to find out more.

We always encourage our community to stay informed about the weather, especially on those days when the fire hazard level increases. Know how to get out of your home and stay connected to citywide messaging so you know when to evacuate and what direction to travel. Make sure you subscribe to our city Nixle Alerts by texting 92651 to 888.777. Specific messaging can also be broadcast through the city’s Emergency Warning System.

By working together, we can continue to enjoy our special town and stay fire safe at the same time. 

In Community Spirit,

Niko King, Fire Chief

Committee agrees to present report on draft emergency tenant protection ordinance to council

By SARA HALL

A city committee this week agreed to present their report on a possible draft emergency/urgency eviction and tenant protection ordinance to the Laguna Beach City Council.

The Housing and Human Services Committee members voted 9-0 on Wednesday (April 26) to present their report to council, supported by information from a statewide coalition of local tenant organizations, a proposed state Senate bill and examples from other California cities.

HHSC Chair Ketta Brown presented the item to the committee. After residents spoke at the January 25 meeting during public comment, the issue was placed on the committee’s February 22 agenda for further discussion. At that time, the group agreed to add it to their workplan and discuss it in more detail for potential future action at their April meeting.

“We heard you, we feel your pain and we’re sorry we can’t help now,” Brown said. 

Following the February HHSC meeting, she did some online research and wrote up a report detailing what prompted the effort, her findings and the next steps. 

In the report, she noted that the longtime residents spoke regarding loss of their rental units due to “substantial remodel” reasons for which no permits had been pulled, but for which they were given their 60 days.

As protections that were enacted due to COVID-19 are been rolled back, “many landlords have taken the opportunity to raise rents aggressively and use the no-fault ‘substantial remodel’ clause written in the California State statute to evict long-time tenants,” Brown explained in her report. 

A number of cities have either created or amended rental ordinances to address this problem, she noted. A few of the key changes that were ratified by some of the ordinances in other cities included: That prior to noticing tenant, all permits must be pulled and copies provided to tenant; that the renovation take over 60 days to complete; and the current tenant has the right of first refusal to re-occupy the unit after remodel is complete.

The biggest loophole is that landlords say they are planning major repairs in order to evict their tenants, but can take years to actually pull the permits, HHSC Vice Chair Cody Engle explained. 

“There are a number of cities that have closed the loophole,” with local ordinances, he said.

Senate Bill 567, Termination of tenancy: no-fault just causes: gross rental rate increases, authored by State Senator Maria Elena Durazo (D-Los Angeles), was just submitted to the Senate judiciary committee and covers a lot of what they’ve discussed, Brown noted.

The proposed bill “builds on existing law to better protect California’s low-income renters from unjust evictions and exorbitant rent increases,” according to a statement from several organizations sponsoring the bill.

As written, the bill will close loopholes in the Tenant Protection Act that allow for “rampant abuse of the no-fault just causes for eviction, expand the population of protected tenants, limit allowable rent increases to a more reasonable cap, and provide mechanisms for accountability and enforcement,” the statement reads. 

It’s a great effort, but it will take some time to go through the process and actually be implemented, if it even passes at the state level, Brown pointed out on Wednesday.

“However, although I appreciate that and I think it’s a great way to go, it’s going to take a long time,” she said. “I really feel incredibly strongly that we need to do something yesterday.” 

This draft ordinance is something the city could implement immediately and could act as a stopgap before the state law is implemented, Brown explained. 

“In the meantime, we’re losing housing by the day and something has to be done. We have to take active steps to help our residents or we’re going to lose them,” Brown said.

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Photo by Mary Hurlbut 

A city committee will present a report to council on a possible draft emergency ordinance aimed at protecting renters in Laguna Beach 

Tanya Yacina, who also spoke at the previous HHSC meetings, commented again on Wednesday. She agreed that it would take too long for SB 567 to go through the process. It likely won’t be voted on until around August and, if it even passes, it won’t go into effect until next year.

She pointed out that it’s already too late for her and another neighbor who spoke at the previous meetings, Kathrin Holt.

“Kathrin and I are already out of town. We’ve lost this battle,” Yacina said, but there are many more residents facing the same issue, several of them attended Wednesday’s meeting either online or in-person. “We’re all having the same problem” 

Resident Melissa Maiden also spoke during public comment and shared her own situation as an example of what’s happening all over town. She and her husband work and live locally with their kids. They are very much a part of the community, she said, but they are being forced out by the landlord.

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