Laguna Beach : Compromise Reached on Downtown Building

A real estate salesman has reached a compromise with the City Council on his controversial development project opposite Main Beach.

The salesman, Will Singer, took over the old Aaron Bros. building on Coast Highway when the art supply store moved to El Toro after its rent skyrocketed.

Singer, who says he has spent more than $400,000 improving and dividing the building into four storefronts, gained approval from the city to put in a delicatessen and a clothing store in two of the spaces.

But the Planning Commission balked at his request for an optical boutique and a restaurant in the remaining two spaces because Singer had already used up 15 of the 17 parking spaces allotted him under a city system aimed at controlling downtown traffic congestion.

In 1984, however, city officials mistakenly had told Singer that the building was allotted 27 spaces--a fact that neither side disputes. Singer says he leased and remodeled the building and negotiated subleases under the impression that he had 27 spaces--enough for both the optical boutique and the restaurant. Two weeks ago, he filed a claim for $50 million against the city for blocking his project because of the mistake.

On Tuesday, the council heard Singer’s appeal for a reversal of the Planning Commission’s decision.

“This building was identified in 1959 as the key building in Laguna Beach,” Singer said.

If the city does not grant him the spaces it originally said he had, “that is tantamount to saying we will have two oceanfront stores across from Main Beach stay empty for the next 19 years,” he said. “That’s ridiculous, and I’m sure you don’t want that.”

After a long discussion, the council voted to deny approval for the restaurant because it would add too much traffic.

But it also granted Singer two more parking spaces--enough for the optical boutique--and expressed an intent to allow a retail use in the fourth store that would require four additional parking spaces. Two of these would be granted by the city while the other two would cost Singer $8,000 each under a parking provision of allowing merchants in some cases to obtain extra spaces in return for fees.

“It’s better than nothing,” Singer said.