South Laguna Will Quietly Join Neighbor on Thursday

The largest number of people to be annexed to a city all at once in Orange County history will officially join Laguna Beach Thursday.

By joining their 18,000 neighbors to the north on the final day of 1987, the 5,000 residents of South Laguna will essentially be shifting control of services from the county to the new, larger city.

But there will be a little more paperwork for the city, Laguna Beach City Manager Kenneth Frank said.

“Nothing magical happens,” Frank said. “Most people won’t notice much of a difference right away. In fact, they won’t notice much of a difference in the long run.”

The only visible difference South Laguna residents will see Thursday is Laguna Beach Police Department vehicles patrolling their streets, instead of Orange County Sheriff’s Department patrol cars.

Also, the Laguna Beach sign, marking the south entrance to the city, will at Three Arch Bay, the new south end of the city. The two-square-mile area of South Laguna stretches from Three Arch Bay to the Nyes Place area in the north and is bounded on the east by coastal foothills.

More Voice in Government

Most South Laguna residents see a distinct advantage in being part of the city to the north. They will have a larger voice in their local government, according to Rich Jeffries, president of the South Laguna Civic Assn.

“Most services and day-to-day living won’t be impacted,” Jeffries said. “But we only had a little bit of a voice in the county, where we’re only about 2% of the volume of people. In Laguna Beach, we’ll be about 25% of the population, with a better majority and voice in community affairs.”

Apparently, that voice has already been heard, as the Laguna Beach City Council recently voted to establish the city’s first priority in South Laguna: enforcing the community’s residential zoning code, which the county adopted in 1936 to limit residential construction to one single-family dwelling per parcel of land.

Jeffries said South Laguna has about 100 outstanding complaints filed with the county regarding units that are allegedly out of compliance, such as garages that have been converted into apartments without obtaining a variance from the county. Frank said the city will review each complaint to see if the conversions were made before 1936, or if the owner obtained a variance from the county.

“The area has become too dense,” Jeffries said. “There is no offstreet parking, and there is generally a lack of pride. . . . The area is not as aesthetically pleasing as one that is under enforcement by the Planning Department.”

The city has hired four new employees in its Community Development Department, including a code-compliance technician who will coordinate code-violation inspections. Frank said it will probably take several months for the city to complete the inspections.

“We’re in the process of transferring records, but it’s not something insurmountable,” Frank said.

Some services, such as fire protection and paramedic service, won’t be taken over by the city until July 1, 1988, the start of the next fiscal year.

“Paramedic service will be the major undertaking,” Frank said, because the city has to send six employees from its Fire Department to paramedic training school.

The city will hire nine employees for the Fire Department and paramedic service, along with four new police officers, and several other municipal services employees to handle the anticipated increase in inquiries at City Hall.

City staff members and officials have been meeting with South Laguna’s various homeowners associations to prepare for the annexation.

Some questions have been raised that the city must still review and answer, Frank said. For example, residents in the Blue Lagoon area want to know whether the city is going to remove garbage from their beach. Although private, residents allow the public to use the beach.

In preparing for annexation, the City Council has temporarily adopted South Laguna’s specific plan and development requirements until city staff members can review those guidelines and see how they compare to the city’s plan.

It will take about nine months for the city to combine its land use plans with South Laguna’s.

“Much of what’s on the books in South Laguna is similar to Laguna Beach,” Frank said. The City Council has already voted on several areas, such as sign regulations and building height ordinances. But there may be certain zoning that they want to keep strictly in South Laguna.

“It’s a matter of finding out which zones are most appropriate for which neighborhoods,” Frank said, noting for example that North Laguna is the only part of the city zoned to display for-sale automobiles outside.

One problem remains regarding utility service in South Laguna, which receives its electricity from San Diego Gas & Electric. Jeffries said residents want a change in utility companies because they pay an estimated 38% higher rate than their new Laguna Beach neighbors, who are served by Southern California Edison Co.

The California Public Utilities Commission this week ordered SDG&E; to reduce its electricity rates beginning Jan. 1. Although customers’ monthly bills will decrease by a 3.1% average, they will still be paying more than their neighbors.

Frank said he hasn’t yet decided whether he will recommend to the City Council that the city ask the PUC to change South Laguna’s service to Edison. SDG&E; recently began an undergrounding project in South Laguna, which is scheduled to be completed in two phases. The county had planned to pay for the second phase, but since annexation county officials have suggested that Laguna Beach assume that cost.

Still, South Laguna residents and city officials anticipate a smooth transition.

“It will probably take a year for everything to come together,” Frank said.

Some residents have said they fear South Laguna will lose its identity as part of Laguna Beach. But other residents headed the annexation effort because of the possibility of being included in Laguna Niguel’s incorporation proposal.

Jeffries said South Lagunans could more readily relate to the preservation-of-the-arts attitude in Laguna Beach, rather than their more development-minded neighbors in rapidly growing Laguna Niguel.

The only way South Laguna will become lost within Laguna Beach is if residents let it happen, Jeffries said.

“Our identity will stay the same. . . . We will always be South Laguna, even though we’ll be part of Laguna Beach,” Jeffries said.