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Obituary

Joseph M. Petrovich

February 4, 1926 – December 3, 2017

Upon announcing his passing, his youngest son referred to him as his “Mentor.” He, in fact, was a mentor to many people thanks to his common sense and his frank honesty. Joe passed away just two months short of his 92nd birthday. He lived a full life.

He was born in Los Angeles, California one of five children - three sisters and one brother. His dream was to play professional baseball. After high school he joined the Army while World War II was in full force. He was stationed all over including Okinawa, Japan. He remembered VJ Day extremely well as that was the event that sent him home to his family. He started college at Loyola Marymount University and then earned his degree in Engineering from the University of Southern California.

He moved his family to Laguna which included two sons, Joey and Chris. Both boys went through the Laguna School system where Joey excelled in music becoming a local icon and Chris excelled at sports. Joey, unfortunately, passed away almost 14 years ago in a big blow to the family. Although three very different people, they bonded through baseball.

Joe is survived by his sister Cecelia, his youngest son Chris and his granddaughter Jade (15). Joe adored his only grandchild. No memorial services are planned. However, as a way to honor the Petrovich family, a GoFundMe account has been created to fund the existing Joey Petrovich Songwriter Scholarship at Laguna Beach High School. 100 percent of the donations will go into the scholarship to help young musicians.

Donate here: www.gofundme.com/Joey-Petrovich-Songwriter

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Short term lodging is a danger to the future of our town

In the recent spate of comments about Short Term Lodging on the social network website Nextdoor, who see STL as a boon to Laguna Beach and are full of ridicule and condemnation for Village Laguna, City Council and Staff, sadly lacking is a consideration of what this might mean for the long-term future of our town. 

Consider this:  Our Sister City, St Ives, in Cornwall, England, no longer has a stable, long-term residential soul like ours and is deemed a ‘ghost’ town by many, because the unchecked proliferation of Short Term Lodging resulted in fewer permanent residents and more absentee owners with homes vacant except in the lucrative, summer rental months. Because of this STL invasion caused primarily by recent online media, the St Ives Council finally held a referendum that was passed by 80 percent of its residents, to restrict the purchase by absentee owners of second and third new homes. The High Court of England ruled in favor of the referendum last year. 

In light of results like this, please think about the future of Laguna, not now, not tomorrow, but in five or 10 years.  We may well go down a similar path and become a town with no soul, like picturesque St Ives or hip Balboa Island, if we allow unlimited Short Term Lodging in our residential areas. Our supply of long-term affordable rentals will be drastically diminished, and we will become just a place of profit-making short-term rentals.  We should beware those unintended future consequences, and work together to protect our residential neighborhoods from rampant commercialism before it’s too late.

Charlotte Masarik

Laguna Beach

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New shared use community path is an immediate public health concern due to high risk of pedestrian/bike collision

Last Friday morning I was walking my youngest daughter to Top of the World Elementary School. We were at the base of the new path that connects Sommet du Monde with Alta Laguna Blvd, when seven mountain bikers tore down pedestrian only path at high speed. I had to push my daughter rapidly into the fence. We were both very shaken. We were all very fortunate that no-one was seriously injured.

I am aware that mine is not the first experience of a near collision. This is a shared community path and is the only route to TOW school from Arch Beach heights community. The near accident occurred at the base of a steep incline which is a blind spot. The multiple signs for bikers to dismount and walk this short connection path are not effective enough.

I believe it is now a more dangerous pathway for all users than it was before. For the sake of our community can we please have some form of a physical barrier to divide the path safely. I have already spoken to the City Council representative responsible for the path planning. I am concerned that no action will take place and that it’s only a matter of time until a serious accident occurs. In the mean-time I urge our community to be careful on this path.

Kirsten Rogers

Laguna Beach

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Obituary

Catalina Raine Kollock

November 14, 2017 – December 16, 2017

Catalina Raine Kollock was born with tremendous love at home on November 14, 2017. On the morning of December 16, 2017 she passed peacefully from this world surrounded by her loving family. 

Catalina Raine is a perfect angel. She is a beautiful ray of light who is loved deeply by family and friends. In her brief time on this earth, her radiant soul touched the lives of so many. Though she is no longer with us in body, her spirit will forever live on in all of our hearts.

Catalina Raine will always be cherished and loved by her mother and father, Teresa and Ryan, her brother Jackson, her three sisters Layla, Stella, and Scarlett, her grandmother Donna, her great grandmother Gloria, her uncle Joey, and so many more who were blessed to know her.

Memorial services will be held at Neighborhood Congregational Church in Laguna Beach on Friday, December 29, 2017 at 3 p.m. followed by a brief reception at Bridge Hall. The family requests that guests please dress colorfully and avoid wearing black.

In lieu of flowers, the family would be eternally grateful for donations to their GoFundMe www.gofundme.com/kollockfamily, Paypal (This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.), or Venmo www.venmo.com/Ryan-Kollock.

All of these will help support the family in these trying times.

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Sign numbing

For a City with the strictest sign code, we sure do love electronic message boards! These PD signs are meant to warn drivers of dangers related to traffic, accidents, etc., yet the LBPD inexplicably has decided to use them constantly, at several locations in, out and around town, to display such helpful messages as “Have a nice day!” and “Happy Holidays!” Really? This is the “look” we want for our town? Now we are numb to the signs, so if they do display useful messages for their intended purpose, we won’t pay any attention! And as a bonus, they increase the danger to cyclists, by forcing them into traffic. Thanks LBPD! 

Ann Marie McKay

Laguna Beach

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There are solutions to the short term lodging challenges

Thanks to the City staff, appointed and elected Laguna Beach officials, and all those involved for all the time and effort spent developing for Laguna a fair, balanced, and equitable approach to the issue of short term lodging.

After all that effort, is must be frustrating that late in the day at its hearing last Thursday, after hours of detailed deliberations over a few parking spaces in Malibu and old pipes at Playa Vista, the Coastal Commission announced that they only had the room until 7:00PM and that the hearing on Laguna’s adopted ordinance would be constrained by that time limit.

The result was short shrift given to all sides in a hurry-up hearing of Laguna’s request for certification of an amendment to its Local Coastal Plan incorporating the short-term lodging ordinance the City has adopted unanimously after many months of and thousands of hours of citizen and City debate.  (And not that many issues in Laguna result in unanimous opinions.)  Whether a more extensive hearing of an issue with widespread consequences for many communities throughout California would have led to a better decision is debatable, but what is not debatable is the appropriateness, or actually lack thereof, of the manner in which the hearing was held.

While most Californians understand the mission of the Coastal Act is to assure there are no gates or fences impeding physical coastal access, the current Coastal Commission seems to be embarking on its own social engineering mission, 1) aggressively broadening its scope by stretching definitions and 2) imposing unfunded mandates on local communities.

Its current efforts to reinterpret the word “access” as more than physical access to include a requirement that local communities provide unlimited affordable vacation accommodations to anyone who wants a day at any specific beach of the visitor’s choosing at any time of their choosing at a price the visitor can afford reflects both these issues.  The stretch of the definition is obvious. 

An unfunded mandate is a requirement by one level of government that another level of government perform certain actions with no funds provided to do so.  In this case, the state requires cities to do something costly and requires the city to absorb the cost.  That the Coastal Commission is doing this to local communities is less obvious, but no less consequential.

While visitors bring additional revenue to a community, visitors also bring additional cost. The problem is, in Laguna’s case, the additional cost far exceeds the additional revenue. Because Laguna graciously hosts so many visitors annually, compared to other cities in California with our population, the cost to run the government of the City of Laguna Beach is roughly three times the cost to run cities of similar size with little or no visitor impact. The shortage is made up by the residents with funds paid by local residents that should be used for local resident needs that are instead diverted to cover the extra costs due to visitors.

There are solutions - -two of which are:  The State of California Coastal Commission can rein back in its overreach and work for reasonable balance between visitors and residents. And the State of California can provide the funds to the local communities that will cover the additional costs resulting from the state’s requirements. By the way, that number – the shortage -- is about $25,000,000 per year or something like $2,000 per year per Laguna household.

John Thomas

Laguna Beach

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Obituary

Steven P. Duncan

April 4, 1954 – December 15, 2017

Steven Paul Duncan passed away Friday, December 15, 2017, at the age of sixty three surrounded by his entire family. He is survived by his wife Anne, his four children, Madison, Riley, Jamie, and Liam, his very soon to be son-in-law Graham Harris, and his mischievous cattle dog, Marley.  

Born in London, England and raised back and forth between Geneva, Kentucky and California, Steve first moved to Laguna Beach in 1962 with his mother, Betty and his grandparents Emily and Will Cowie. The family later opened the Horseshoe Cafe in downtown Laguna Beach. A graduate of Laguna Beach High School and University of California Irvine, he earned his JD from the University of San Diego in 1986 and proceeded to run his own practice in Laguna Beach as a plaintiffs’ personal injury lawyer.  

Steve lived a life as full as his booming laugh. He was cultured, irreverent, and the sharpest of wits. He was an avid tennis player, surfer, and sailor in his younger years. Steve loved the time he spent ranching and co-owning a dairy calf business. He also loved playing—or as he would say, “trying to play”—the guitar and listening to opera, show tunes, and the Appalachian music his Kentucky grandmother used to sing.  

More than anything, he loved his family. Steve refused to let the harshness of his earlier years take his goodness, and worked hard every day to change the trajectory of that life for his children. With a heart even bigger than his personality, Steve welcomed any and all into the warm embrace of his family and modeled integrity through his words and actions. Of all of Steve’s accomplishments and adventures, nothing brought him greater pride than his wife and children, whose compassion, humanity, and humor will carry his legacy.

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Obituary

Ben Rogers

January 27, 1994 – December 13, 2017

Ben Rogers passed away peacefully in the early morning hours of December 13.  

Ben was the light of all our lives, full of a deep kindness towards all, a generous spirit, and a light-hearted presence. Many have shared how Ben would encourage them, and how much he was looking forward to the future. He touched many.  

He and his sister Lily were born in Newtown Connecticut one frozen winter night, moved to Grosse Pointe Farms Michigan at age three, then to Laguna Beach when four.  Ben grew up a local boy, attending the Presbyterian preschool, TOW Elementary, Thurston and the High School. He was an Indian Guide, a Scout, played soccer, but most of all LOVED playing basketball at the Boys and Girls Club and anywhere, really.

His first job was delivering the Laguna Beach Indy in the Mystic Hills neighborhood. He studied Kempo Karate for eight years and also competed at the County level in Track and Field in the Hurdles. 

He attended the Army and Navy Academy in Carlsbad and was able to march in the National Memorial Day parade in Washington DC in 2011, playing the snare drum.

Ben attended the University of Arizona, and was planning to finish up at Cal State San Marcos in the fall.  

He is survived by his parents, Kate and Jim, his twin Lily, his brother Will, his step-sister Sara, and also his beloved dogs Gracie and Coco.

A memorial service is planned at St. Mary’s Episcopal Church on Saturday, December 30 at 10 a.m. All are welcome to come remember and celebrate Ben.

In lieu of flowers, donations may be made in Ben’s name to the ASPCA.

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No soul in concrete stairs at Thalia

Why is it [that] each project taken on by the Corps of Engineers, when finished, looks like something built by the Corps of Engineers?  No soul!  Couldn’t they use river rock or flagstone or something that is not concrete?

Robert Story

Laguna Beach

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Hotel Laguna is in desperate need of renovation

I have followed the continuing saga of the Hotel Laguna and have a few comments. First of all, a lawsuit seeking “financial restitution” truly seems without merit (no pun intended).

Regarding the hotel name, although Mrs. Andersen says it’s trademarked, photos from the 1930s show that the name has been in use since the beginning. I’m not an attorney, but isn’t there such a thing as public domain?

The Andersens operated the property for 30 years and never did a significant renovation. The entire place is run down and in desperate need of attention. Why would we think they’d choose to do so now? I understand that Andersen has a sentimental attachment to the hotel, but it’s time to move on. She has been operating two restaurants — both out of town — one of which has been open 18 months. Doesn’t that imply an “exit strategy”?

I worked with Joe Hanauer during his acquisition of The Pottery Shack and transformation into The Old Pottery Place. At the beginning there was opposition but, now, rightly beloved with resident serving businesses, including one of few remaining brick and mortar bookstores. There could not be a man more devoted to keeping the historic aspects of our community intact … but improved. And with Greg MacGillivray as a named partner… along with James Ray, I’d call them the dream team to take control of the run down hotel, and continue to be fine stewards of our village, as has been Mark Christy with The Ranch. 

Thank goodness The Montage sold Christy and partners the property, or we’d almost certainly have condos on the golf course by now.

Leslie Cunningham

30-year resident of Laguna Beach

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