Laguna Won’t Sell Land Used by Scouts

Laguna Beach City Manager Kenneth C. Frank calls it “The Great Brownie Rebellion of 2005.”

After getting an earful from dozens of young girls and their mothers, the City Council has agreed not to sell a chunk of property that the Girl Scouts have used for camping, cookouts, meetings and other activities for more than 60 years.

The city planned to sell two parcels to help pay for repairing the Bluebird Canyon hillside that collapsed June 1, destroying or seriously damaging more than 20 homes. The sale would have netted up to $2 million, city officials said. Instead, they will consider a half-cent sales tax increase.

Laguna Beach Girl Scout leaders turned the tide with a well-organized campaign. They presented a petition signed by hundreds of local residents, held a Labor Day weekend rally at the beach, wrote letters to all five council members and worked the phones.

Their campaign was so persuasive that council members didn’t even bother voting on the proposal at their meeting Tuesday.

Before public comment began, Laguna Beach Mayor Elizabeth Pearson-Schneider took a straw vote and realized that council members no longer supported the sale.

Instead, she invited Girl Scouts and volunteers to the dais, where the girls exchanged handshakes and hugs with council members.

The Girl Scouts celebrated by handing out cookies.

Laura Wellsfry, a Laguna Beach Girl Scout leader, said the council’s change of heart came as a pleasant surprise.

“We wanted to educate and inform them, hoping to delay their decision,” Wellsfry said. “We didn’t expect them to take it off the table, especially with the fiscal crisis they have on their hands.”

Councilwoman Toni Iseman, who was convinced last week that the city had no choice but to sell the Girl Scout house, said she was swayed by the letters she received.

“They were very thoughtful letters that recognized the dilemma the community was in,” Iseman said. “In an ideal world, the Girl Scouts would buy the property and we’ll never have to worry about this again. But right now, that’s not possible.”

The Girl Scouts have been leasing the two adjoining parcels for $1 a year and could not afford to pay market value for the land -- an estimated $1.6 million to $2 million.

Pearson-Schneider said she was influenced by the numbers: more than 260 Laguna Beach girls ages 5 to 17 use the facility.

“I thought we were talking about a couple dozen local girls,” Pearson-Schneider said.

In lieu of selling the city owned land on High Drive near the Festival of Arts, officials might seek a half-cent sales tax increase to help offset about $15 million in landslide expenses. Some families in Bluebird Canyon still haven’t been allowed to return.

The local sales tax increase could generate $2 million a year in tax revenue, Frank said.

Several of the speakers Tuesday night endorsed the sales tax increase in favor of saving the Girl Scout house. “It’s not very often the public comes to a political body and asks to have their taxes raised,” Iseman said.

The council will meet Sept. 16 to consider calling a special election on the tax increase.