LAGUNA BEACH : Cleanup Campaign Scheduled for May

The city and the Laguna Fire Relief Coalition are promoting a communitywide garage sale and cleanup campaign for May in hopes of clearing out trash that could become a fire hazard.

Residents will be encouraged to leave unwanted items at their curbs for pickup, donate items to nonprofit organizations and hold garage sales.

“I think it’s going to help everybody, and it sounds like a lot of fun,” said Councilwoman Kathleen Blackburn, who joined in the unanimous City Council vote endorsing the program last week.

Mayor Ann Christoph said incentives may be added, such as giving a prize to someone who cleans out a garage that had been too full for a car.

In a memo to her colleagues, Christoph said the problems of accumulated trash are multifaceted. When vehicles are edged out of the garage, the city’s parking problem is compounded and emergency vehicles that might be needed in case of a fire have less space in which to maneuver, the memo says.

Councilwoman Lida Lenney said she wondered whether recycled items might simply be relocated to another section of town.

“There’s a part of me that wonders if what somebody sells at one garage sale won’t end up in the garage of another” resident, she said.

Anita Mangels, director of the Laguna Fire Relief Coalition, said she is hoping residents who hold garage sales will donate a percentage of the money collected to the coalition, which was formed after the October fire to help fire survivors.

Mangels said coalition volunteers and members of the Boy Scouts of America will help residents sort, price and sell items.

The communitywide garage sale is scheduled for May 14. Throughout the following week, residents may place trash and unwanted items, including furniture, at curbside to be hauled away by Waste Management Inc. at no cost to the resident.

For more information, call the coalition office at (714) 376-9288.