LAGUNA BEACH : Plan Commission Approves Theater

A controversial plan to convert a vacant bank building into a theater was approved by the Planning Commission after a 3 1/2-hour public hearing Wednesday.

The 250-seat Second Stage, a spinoff from the Moulton Theatre, received solid support from the city’s arts and business community but was opposed by residents of the Three Arch Bay neighborhood, which is adjacent to the building site at the south end of town.

Opponents, who object to the traffic and noise they say would accompany the project, are considering appealing to the City Council.

Supporters say the completed project would be the realization of a decade-old dream to open an intimate playhouse in Laguna Beach where “artistically adventuresome” works can be tested.

“Not only will it reinforce Laguna Beach’s international reputation as an arts mecca, but it will be a wonderful southern gateway to the city of the arts in which all Laguna Beach residents will be able to take great pride,” Richard Stein, executive director of the Laguna Playhouse, said Thursday. The Laguna Playhouse operates the 418-seat Moulton Theatre on Laguna Canyon Road.

The earliest theater performances in Laguna Beach were staged by the Laguna Community Players in homes and rented stores beginning in 1920. The city’s first playhouse opened on Ocean Avenue in 1924. The Moulton Theatre--which is the county’s largest theater company after South Coast Repertory--opened in 1969.

A statement released by Stein says playhouse leaders began thinking almost a decade ago about ways to return the theater to its roots by opening a smaller stage to produce untested works.

The group began looking at the former Bank of America building in 1991 and decided last year that it was “both the ideal site and the only suitable site” in the city for the theater, the statement says.

The building was purchased by the Laguna Playhouse in February. According to county records, the price was $880,000.

John von Szeliski & Associates, a Newport Beach-based theater designer and architectural firm, has been selected to remodel the 7,300-square-foot building. Planners hope the new theater will open at the end of this year or in early 1995.

Three Arch Bay residents have 20 days to decide whether to appeal the Planning Commission approval of the plan to the City Council.

The Planning Commission voted 3 to 2 for the theater with a list of conditions. Playhouse leaders had to agree to change the fencing between the proposed playhouse and adjacent homes to soften the noise if the residents so desire. And the theater’s operation would be reviewed three months after opening to evaluate the noise and traffic.

Commissioners Jeff Powers and Barbara Metzger opposed the plan.