City of Laguna Beach reviews summer operations, mulls improvements for next year

Laguna Beach residents have long understood the coastal community is a popular destination for tourists, but in recent years, some have begun airing their concerns to city officials.

After an especially busy summer season in 2024, community members have been railing against the adverse impacts of tourism. An overabundance of traffic and trash, as well as visitors who disregarded municipal codes, were among the top complaints.

So, ahead of this past summer, the City Council formed an ad hoc committee focused on fostering better stewardship. The city also engaged in digital advertising campaigns, targeting the Orange County area with messaging about beach behavior, parking and encouraging compliance with local laws.

On Tuesday night, city staff returned with a report that detailed how well those plans worked and outlined recommendations for the future.

The Laguna Beach Police Department ramped up its enforcement efforts, fielding 17,781 calls for service, a 12.4% increase from 2024, according to the report. Citations climbed to 3,329, marking a 41.4% increase in the year-over-year numbers.

A total of 65 felony arrests were logged, a 16.7% decrease, as well as 269 misdemeanors, down 10% over the course of the season.

Between Memorial Day and Labor Day, the marine safety department reported 10,329 ocean rescues by lifeguards. While that marked a 7.4% increase from 2024, rescues requiring medical aid dropped 16.7%.

Marine safety personnel also visited schools in the nearby cities of Aliso Viejo, Laguna Hills, Mission Viejo and San Juan Capistrano, sharing with more than 1,000 students lessons on exercising safe behavior both in and near the ocean, recognizing ocean hazards and protecting sensitive marine environments.

In advance of next summer, the department is interested in expanding its junior lifeguard program, particularly in South Laguna, where staff have noticed increased beach activity.

When it came to this year’s summer street traffic, officers issued 8,526 parking tickets, representing an uptick of 18.5% in citations over last year.

City officials have contemplated whether becoming a charter city might provide a cost-saving benefit for parking enforcement, allowing the city to contract out the issuance of tickets, rather than paying city employees to perform the task.

“I think the police department did a much better job this year on parking enforcement, but it would be great if we could put that on the ballot next year,” Councilmember Sue Kempf said. “... We can’t [contract for parking enforcement] now because we’re not a charter city. … We can’t do that legally, which is really frustrating to us. We have to have people on the payroll for that. … I’m sure we could cover our costs.”

Laguna Beach is also pursuing permits to increase its parking rates downtown and in surrounding areas over the next five years and considering expanding paid parking throughout town.

Additional recommendations for consideration include amending the city’s ordinance on canopy size (currently canopies up to 6 feet by 6 feet by 6 feet are allowed) and possibly restricting where the shade structures may be used.

“The primary concern that we have from the marine safety side is a field-of-view issue,” Marine Safety Chief Kai Bond said Tuesday. “This does include umbrellas, so I don’t want to discount that, but the bigger the object that is in front of you, it’s very difficult for us to see parts of the beach and, more importantly, the water.”

The city may also look into limiting hours at its secluded cove beaches, noting beach-goer safety could be compromised by darkness and isolation. Drones could be used to check those areas after hours.

“Those are beaches that in the best of circumstances are difficult swimming beaches,” Kempf said. “You get people down there at night drinking, stuff like that. If we could fly the drones over the beaches and look for people, then the police department wouldn’t have to wait for someone to complain.”

This year marked a decade of year-round service for Laguna Beach’s trolley program. The Summer Breeze park-and-ride option from Irvine — a seasonal offering — saw a 46% increase in ridership, although overall trolley use was slightly down. Ridership on the Coastal Route, which runs along Coast Highway, has declined during all but one year since 2019.

Alexis Braun, acting director of transit and community services, said the Summer Breeze route has seen an expansion in service since the city approved additional operations on Thursdays. It had traditionally run on weekends during the art festival season.

This year, the route was offered three weeks earlier, beginning Memorial Day weekend. Braun clarified ridership numbers provided Tuesday did not reflect the entire summer, just traffic through August.

The city is also looking into options for automatic passenger accounts, as opposed to relying on estimates provided by trolley operators.

“I think we should look, in the offseason, at changes to the trolley program and possibly even [the] Laguna Local [on-demand transit program], make sure we’re right-sizing that,” City Manager Dave Kiff suggested.

“We need to look differently at our trash efforts, including maybe some cleanups in beach-adjacent neighborhoods,” he added. “Beach cleanups are great, but what about the neighborhoods where everyone is parking and dumping out their trash before they drive away?”

Public parks, accessible bluff tops and the inland side of Coast Highway were noted as problem areas when it came to trash.

Council members Tuesday also requested a status update on the Main Beach boardwalk, a portion of which was closed last month after a vehicle crashed into the walkway. Public Works Director Mark McAvoy said materials to repair the structure have been ordered and a start date for the work is imminent.