Laguna Beach moves to close escrow on Ti Amo Ristorante property

Laguna Beach has moved ahead with its bid to acquire the Ti Amo Ristorante property, located at 31727 Coast Highway, for civic purposes.

The Laguna Beach City Council on Tuesday directed city staff to complete the steps necessary to close escrow on the property at the purchase price of $2.7 million. The panel also certified an initial study and mitigated negative declaration.

The motion to do so carried by a vote of 3-2, with council members Toni Iseman and George Weiss dissenting.

While the action taken at Tuesday’s meeting did not assign a specific use for the property, the city has had interest in acquiring property to replace Fire Station No. 4, located at 31646 2nd Ave. in South Laguna. Other potential uses considered in the study include a public park, restrooms or a parking lot.

The vast majority of the public communications to come in for the item were opposed to the city moving forward with the acquisition of the land, especially if it would be used to place a fire station there.

“Nothing that we do here is going to make certain people happy,” Councilman Peter Blake said. “We have to ask ourselves, what’s going to make 23,000 people more safe, especially at a time when our state is burning.”

To close escrow, the city will have to file a notice of determination, complete the escrow documents and pay the full purchase price by Sept. 6, Jeremy Frimond, a senior management analyst for the city, said. The next step could be to determine the specific use of the site. A date to return to council to discuss that use has not been set.

The Planning Commission reviewed the planned acquisition of the property at its Aug. 4 meeting and unanimously determined that it would be consistent with the city’s general plan.

“I think from a technical standpoint, the mitigated negative declaration covers all of the bases,” Laguna Beach Mayor Bob Whalen said. “It does the right analysis in terms of [the California Environmental Quality Act]. It concludes that there is no significant impact on the environment that can’t be mitigated.

“The mitigation factors are summarized in there, so I’m confident that that’s a well-reasoned and sound document, based on the advice that we’re getting from our city attorney and our staff.”

Weiss indicated that he found the parcel being acquired to be “a bit small” to have a fire station built on it. He speculated that a basement might need to be built to accommodate the needs of one, should that be the desired use.

“When you try to press this into a smaller space, you have to build a basement,” Weiss said. “The cost to build is unestablished, so I see that as an unknown and concerning that way.

“Demolishing an existing restaurant that could benefit the public is another concern I have. I’d rather see the restaurant be a restaurant and not have to build another somewhere else.”

The split vote by the council mirrors the vote recorded at the June 15 meeting, when the panel decided to hire Rincon Consultants Inc. to look at the possible civic uses for the property and conduct the environmental analysis associated with such projects.

Once a specific use is determined for the property, that project will be subject to the entitlement and design review process.

Iseman questioned why an appraisal was not done before agreeing to purchase the property, and she expressed a belief that the asking price was too high. She called on the council to rethink the purchase and explore opportunities at other locations.

“There are so many reasons why we shouldn’t go forward,” Iseman said. “Is there any question that there is going to be litigation? We heard from one attorney by mail, and we had one attorney testify, and I think there is a commitment in the neighborhood to make sure that this is not going to happen.”

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