Laguna Beach to purchase library property for $4.29 million, keep library where it is

The Laguna Beach City Council has decided to purchase a parcel of land on which its public library sits for $4.29 million, bringing the property under local control while also assuring residents the library will remain where it is for the foreseeable future.

The panel voted 4-1 at its meeting Tuesday to direct staff to complete the purchase of the county-owned site, approving a motion with several conditions. A 25-year lease is to be executed with the county to continue to run the library under its Public Libraries system.

Residents had expressed concern that if the city bought the lot — one of four the library was built on in 1972 — the site might have been repurposed. Some worried the land could be converted into a parking structure.

A clause in the drafted leasing document, which would have been for three years, stated the city would look at potential sites for the relocation of the library. The motion that carried eliminated that section of the lease agreement.

“I’m fine with buying it as long as there’s a long-term lease, but I’m not interested in anything less than that, and I certainly don’t want a clause in here that looks at other sites [for the library],” Councilman George Weiss said before putting forth the motion that was seconded by Councilwoman Toni Iseman. “The library is fine where it is.”

The city had the option to buy back the county-owned parcel at 363 Glenneyre Street during the life of the original 50-year agreement struck in 1970 for the library to be built. The council chose to act on that opportunity in January 2020, but the completion of the purchase was delayed during the COVID-19 pandemic.

City officials said the money for the acquisition will come from Laguna Beach’s capital improvement program fund. The county will retain the money from the purchase, which can then be reinvested into the library.

A student walks into the Laguna Beach Public Library on Wednesday.

(Don Leach / Staff Photographer)

“The purchase makes sense,” Mayor Pro Tem Bob Whalen said. “We’re going to get this property for $4.29 million, we’re going to hand it to the county. The county is going to say, ‘We’ll reinvest it back in your library.’ What a deal. Who wouldn’t take that deal?”

Mayor Sue Kempf and Whalen, who both serve on a council subcommittee for parking, pushed back against rumors that they were looking to demolish the library.

“We see that stuff thrown around,” Kempf said. “It’s irresponsible, and it’s really annoying.”

Kempf and Whalen said they had not discussed the library site as a location to add parking. An advocate for local control, Kempf said the city should make the purchase so that it could have the library look and operate as it wants.

“I favor keeping the library,” Kempf said. “I think it needs technological upgrades, and it needs physical upgrades, so those things need to happen, and I think the county should be paying.”

David Raber, a principal officer of Laguna Residents First, started a petition on Change.org imploring the council to come forward with an “approved, well-funded plan” for a new library in town or otherwise bypass the option to buy the library from the county. It had collected nearly 1,500 signatures as of Wednesday. Raber communicated with supporters on the petition page following the vote.

“Last night at the Laguna Beach City Council meeting, there was an outpouring of support for the public library, for the services that it provides, for the people who provide those services, and for its location at the heart of our town,” Raber wrote. “It was a long-overdue ‘thanks’ to the library for what it has done for several generations of residents here. … Due to the outpouring of support, several important and positive moves were made for the library’s future.”

Councilman Peter Blake cast the dissenting vote. He expressed interest in purchasing the library property, calling it “an extremely valuable property in the heart of town,” but he objected to the long-term lease.

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