Laguna Beach : Council May Revise, Update Traffic Code

The City Council will vote April 16 on whether to revise and update its sketchy traffic enforcement code.

For an unknown reason, the council voted in 1975 to change several dozen codes to resolutions without repealing them, City Clerk Verna L. Rollinger said. “It’s never made any sense to me,” she said.

Since then, revisions for the dropped codes, which are still valid and being enforced, have not been in the municipal code. The result is confusion for police, city workers and residents who cannot find their traffic infractions listed.

Although all guidelines are found in city ordinances or resolutions, Police Chief Neil Purcell said they can be cumbersome to locate since many are listed only by number, and still others are located in archives at city hall.

Rollinger said the problem could be the result of different administrative styles. She said she remembered that then-city attorney George Logan said that “everything didn’t have to be in the code; it was just a handy reference.”

The council voted 3 to 1 to revise the codes at the first hearing last week. This will be the final vote.