Red Dragon Chinese restaurant still facing hurdles in Laguna Beach

For two years, the owner of property on South Coast Highway has been trying to get approval to open a Red Dragon Chinese restaurant there.

The situation illuminates the hurdles facing business owners who want to open in areas of Laguna Beach near houses or apartments.

On Tuesday night, residents arrived in droves at the Laguna Beach City Council meeting to express their concerns that traffic would be increased and trash and delivery trucks using Ramona Avenue, which runs parallel to the thoroughfare along the back of the property, would wreak havoc on the neighborhood if Red Dragon was allowed to operate.

The council ordered the applicant to return with a detailed plan that addresses those issues, postponing a vote on an appeal raised by the owner of two apartment complexes that sit near the site, at 680 S. Coast Hwy.

The building at the site has been vacant for nearly five years, since Mosun Sushi & Sake/Club M closed.

The city said paperwork indicates that the owner of the property is 680 South Coast Hwy LLC, which appears to be a real estate investment firm in Irvine.

The Planning Commission considered the matter at two hearings, including one in January, when it unanimously recommended approval of the project.

“If I lived on Ramona I’d be down here screaming, especially when there are options we need to look at,” said Councilman Robert Zur Schmiede, who suggested using two parking spaces on Cleo Street as a loading zone for deliveries and a pickup area for take-out orders.

This would alleviate strain on Ramona, which council members agreed should not have to deal with increased traffic.

“People who come and go are residents: children and moms and dads,” said Margo Aguinaga, who was representing apartment owner Maria Price. “This is just a huge safety issue.”

Councilman Kelly Boyd said he also doesn’t want delivery trucks regularly driving down Ramona.

Referring to the spaces on Cleo Street, he said, “We could set it up where on weekends it [the loading zone] opens to the public, and after a certain time of night, I think it’s 5 or 6, it’s then available” for parking.

“I don’t want to see Ramona becoming a seven- or six-, five-day-a-week delivery thing all day long,” he added.

Councilman Bob Whalen said he wants to know where Red Dragon employees would park, a refrain about parking woes heard before in the city.

He mentioned Laguna restaurant Mozambique, which dealt with a similar issue a few years ago.

Mozambique made accommodations by sharing parking areas at other establishments and offering limited shuttle service for diners.

“We need to be more creative in handling the customers and handling the employees,” Whalen said. “It worked in the Mozambique neighborhood when we did the employee parking plan. When we go talk to the residents they say, ‘Yeah, it was a big relief.’ ”

Jim Conrad, architect for the proposed Red Dragon project, said a parking consultant identified possible lots to store cars, including an area near the Neighborhood Congregational Church, at Glenneyre Street and St. Ann’s Drive.

Conrad, who has worked for two years on the project, said 100 spaces could be available for valet or employee parking.

“We’re also considering using some shuttle services similar to what Mozambique has done with the vans,” Conrad said.

As for trash, Conrad proposes widening a portion of Ramona to create a turnaround.

Trucks currently have to back down the street to collect trash, Conrad said.

Conrad said an official with garbage-removal company Waste Management told him trash is picked up twice a week in the area — commercial pickup on Thursdays and residential customers on Mondays.

“We think we’ll only need one additional day of trash pickup,” Conrad said.

In November, the Planning Commission suggested food deliveries and trash pickup be handled on South Coast Highway.

But city staff consulted with public works and police officials and determined that it would be unsafe for vehicles to stop and block a lane of traffic on the busy road, a city staff report said.

Red Dragon would be open from 11 a.m. to 10 p.m. daily, serve alcohol and provide outdoor dining. No live entertainment or disc jockeys are proposed.

“I’m not sure you’ll get a better one, from an operational standpoint, than this one,” Whalen said, “closing at 10 o’clock, no amplified music and no live entertainment. It’s going to be a restaurant at some point, so this is probably, in terms of the conditions, maybe as good as you get.”

The council is expected to discuss and perhaps vote on the matter April 19.