Consultant report on downtown lacks backbone

The city of Laguna Beach hired a consultant in July 2014 to tell it how to improve downtown, and the first report finally has arrived: The downtown doesn’t need significant changing.

In an arguably lackluster 37-page report, MIG admitted last week that the city’s Downtown Specific Plan only needed “tweaks.”

Those tweaks amount to a minor zoning fix, along with four high-level suggestions that lack the wow factor sought by many residents and will have little to no obvious impacts.

All of the recommendations need to go through formal vetting by the Planning Commission before final approval sometime next year.

As part of the consultant’s scope of work, there will be a parking and transportation report next month.

“These are tweaks,” said Mike Berne, subconsultant for MIG. “It’s rare that we work in a community that has this much going for it.”

In his opening remarks, however, Berne foreshadowed more than tweaks. He painted a picture of a downtown that, while functional, was not on the upswing.

“It’s a great working downtown. Let’s make it even better,” he said.

He added that the downtown is not what it once was and that its very vision and planning processes are dominated by older citizens who are not willing to acknowledge — let alone embrace — changing market conditions. MIG backed it up with stats that show Laguna’s median age of 48.5 is much higher than comparable cities.

Despite the setup, Berne and MIG never completely followed through on how to better capitalize on a dynamic retail mix or changing demographics.

The recommendations, with explanations, are as follows:

1. Combine two zoning districts into one. The existing zones are resident serving commercial, and the second is visitor serving commercial. The new single combination would largely be an academic exercise because the city has never truly differentiated the two zones.

Along with this recommendation, there are other streamlining aspects that should be implemented, according to MIG. None were opposed by the joint council.

2. Similar in spirit to the conditional use permit change, MIG suggested a red/yellow/green approach to permitting. In other words, when people apply for a permit, they will be shown a traffic light tool to better gauge whether their application will be approved.

Again, the council agreed that it was an easy, if cosmetic, way to help.

3. Another recommendation was to “employ criteria and incentives to achieve retail goals.” Essentially, this is a way to encourage small, independent businesses, perhaps with some loans or reduced fees.

4. The recommendation that received the most conversation was to “foster more options for dining and entertainment.” This concept promotes alternatives to full food service. So, for example, if a theater chain buys the empty movie house and wants to serve beer and wine (similar to the newer, higher-end movie houses), the current rules do not allow it because all of Laguna’s alcohol establishments need to have a full kitchen. Under the new proposal, they would not.

The concern among some council members and residents who spoke was that this could increase the amount of alcohol consumption. The council decided to approve it anyway and let the existing planning ordinances and reviews control the sites as needed.

5. The last recommendation basically was a public relations suggestion: “Build partnerships related to nonregulatory initiatives to downtown’s retail vitality.” As an example, the city should trumpet the fact that more than 90% of its permits are approved with limited delays.

During the open comment section of the meeting, all of the city and planning council members weighed in on various aspects of the report. The consensus was that the retail mix and zoning should not be looked at in isolation. Next month’s parking and transportation report is needed to complete the picture.

There were some pleas for more creativity. Planner Susan Witten said the retail experience in Laguna was “very flat.” She requested more sophistication, curated stores and progressive approaches that are more authentic to Laguna.

Councilman Rob Zur Schmiede liked the idea of helping smaller businesses get a leg up because he felt like it could encourage diversity.

Several residents pointed out that the survey in the report relied only on 95 respondents.

“I’d hate to see my town change because 95 people decided they wanted something,” said Bonnie Hano.

Others questioned the real motive of the report.

“This meeting is about business people wanting to make more money,” deadpanned Michael Hoag.

There’s something to be said for downtown businesses trying to ease the burden of government rules that hinder growth. We are a market-based economy after all.

But the new rules that may or may not make it into the Downtown Specific Plan update will not dramatically change the business landscape.

Nothing in this latest analysis is very impactful or even particularly creative.

And if the parking and transportation follow-up is similarly tepid, we should ask for our money back.

DAVID HANSEN is a writer and Laguna Beach resident. He can be reached at hansen.dave@gmail.com.