LAGUNA BEACH : Canyon Club Seeks OK to Build Center

Staying sober is only one of the challenges that recovering alcoholics who gather at the Canyon Club here must face each morning.

They also have to scamper across Laguna Canyon Road during rush hour traffic.

It’s hard to say which takes more guts.

Tonight, club members hope to persuade the Laguna Beach Planning Commission to grant them a permit to build a larger center at a new location where they could provide adequate on-site parking.

But the proposed location--about 1.5 miles north on Laguna Canyon Road, next to Sun Valley Drive--is closer to a residential area and some homeowners are opposing the move.

“There’s been a lot of talk and concern about it in the last few days,” canyon resident Ken Lauher said. “That’s a real quiet neighborhood, it has been for a long time. . . . I think it would make it a real busy neighborhood.”

Lauher said he is particularly concerned about the influx of traffic that would accompany the proposed 4,500-square-foot conference center and 90-space parking lot. The current facility is 1,800 square feet.

The city staff also opposes the move and has recommended that commissioners deny the permit. John Montgomery, assistant director of community development, said the proposed location is not the proper place to build such a center.

Both the current location and the proposed site are zoned for light industrial use, Montgomery said, when such a center should be situated in a “business, professional zone.”

The city does not object to the group continuing to gather at the current location because they have been renting in that area of the canyon since 1961, Montgomery said. However, he said it would be inappropriate to allow the Canyon Club to build a new facility in the wrong zone.

The Canyon Club is a nonprofit organization that provides space for daily Alcoholics Anonymous meetings. The first session of the day, which one member called the “attitude adjustment meeting,” is held at 7 a.m. The final gathering is at 10 p.m.

The sessions attract anywhere from six to 60 men and women, who must scramble to nab one of the half-dozen available parking places. With signs on the neighboring property stating: “Don’t Even Think of Parking Here,” most members are forced to park at an empty lot across Laguna Canyon Road.

The club gives recovering addicts and alcoholics a place to share their stories, gain support, play pool or sip nonalcoholic beverages.

“It provides a safe environment for (recovering) alcoholics to help each other stay sober,” said Bob Hatch, a trustee for Canyon Club Building Fund Trust, which was created to find a new home for the club.

Despite the current opposition, Hatch said he is still hopeful the city will permit the move.

“We need our own place,” he said.