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

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.

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.

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

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