LAGUNA BEACH : Panel Offers Design Board Suggestions

A task force created to improve the city’s Design Review Board has presented 34 recommendations to the City Council.

The group was formed in February in response to grumblings from residents about the board’s decision-making process, which some say is poorly defined and arbitrary.

After 13 meetings, the diverse 10-member panel came up with a wide variety of recommendations to improve the process.

Ultimately, however, the task force unanimously agreed that the review process cannot be reduced to a purely objective set of standards and that “discretionary design review” is necessary in the city, panel co-chair Bill O’Hare said.

“It became apparent to us you would be developing standards for every lot in Laguna,” he said, adding that such specificity would also make the process more restrictive. “You know what you can do, but you can’t do much.”

The proposals include making the design constraints of a given neighborhood clear at the onset of a project so that applicants are not frustrated later, finding ways to minimize the “confrontational atmosphere” of the review process and making sure prospective board members are qualified.

Suggestions also include creating a checklist for applicants so they will know in advance what criteria will be used to evaluate their project.

The council will decide which changes to implement at the first meeting in February.

The task force was composed of some members of the council and the Planning Commission, as well as a realtor, an architect, Village Laguna’s president and several interested residents.

The city’s Design Review Board was formed in 1972 to review the design of new or remodeled businesses and multifamily buildings. The board began reviewing the design of single-family homes in 1986.