Laguna Beach: a Village Vilified

Laguna Beach is that rare city dedicated to protecting the natural environment on a local level, taking charge of its own destiny amid the sprawl of overdevelopment that defines Southern California. It preserves a village atmosphere in a county of opulent shopping malls, endless freeways and ridgelines flattened with look-alike row houses. It is a city that swims against the political currents of powerful development interests that fuel the Southern California economy but blight the landscape time and again.

The Earth Summit reminds us we must find a way to balance the ownership rights of today’s generation with the right of future generations to have a world worth living in. Finding the difficult balance (among) individual, community and environmental rights is what sets Laguna Beach apart from the rest of Orange County.

Unfortunately, recent court decisions against the city have underscored how out of sync Laguna Beach is with the county’s prevailing pro-development attitude. A judge, rendering a recent decision about second units in South Laguna, went out of his way to say nasty and spiteful things about the city. Newspaper stories have focused negative opinion on Laguna Beach with biased and inaccurate coverage of the city’s Design Review Board, recounting titillating half-truths about isolated decisions, casting the process as petty and Laguna Beach as unfair.

Though there is a genuine attempt in Laguna Beach to build a political community where diversity and individuality are encouraged, coverage of the city’s design standards suggested exactly the opposite: that Laguna Beach seeks to enforce uniform policies and regulations that hurt rather than protect people. No mention was made of the importance of the social contract between the individual and the community so that everyone’s rights may be served. When did it become un-American to emphasize environmental views and the common good along with individualism?

Grass-roots politics, social activism and the well-attended town meeting are thriving in Laguna Beach, forging a connection (among) people, community and elected officials. Laguna Beach generates social responsibility among its citizens, opting out of a political structure that sacrifices everything to the twin gods of progress and short-term profit.

Last year Laguna Beach residents voted by over a two-thirds majority to tax themselves for the next 20 years to help purchase a portion of Laguna Canyon to preserve one of the local coastal canyons in the state. Local citizen groups have led the fight to oppose construction of expensive toll roads (at the public’s expense), which will lead to more development and more traffic, finishing off what open space remains in Orange County. The city also supports curbside recycling, two shelter programs for the homeless and victims of family violence, a variety of medical, dental and psychological services, along with comprehensive and compassionate programs for AIDS patients, not to mention the city’s longstanding support for the arts.

The environment begins at home. We must act locally to protect our precious natural resources. In Orange County, with its “business as usual” attitude, the city of Laguna Beach sets the right standard for the future.

MARY DOUGLAS, South Laguna Beach