LAGUNA BEACH CITY COUNCIL WRAP-UP

The following is from the Laguna Beach City Council meeting of Aug. 7.

CONSENT CALENDAR

Editor’s note: Consent calendar items are approved in one motion unless a member of the council, staff or public “pull” the item, which then requires opening it for public comment and a separate vote.Approved without comment:

Approximately 26 uniform site/plot plans will be identified as a potential hazard to life, economy, or the environment. The council allocated $30,000 for pre-plan updates in the 2007-08 budget.

The initial expenditure of $11,000 for design, implementation and annual cost will come out of the Police Department Field Services salary budget, because the most difficult employee recruitment is for police officers. The annual cost is $6,000.

Funding is available from the department budget due to unexpected savings from unfilled positions.

Funding required to meet the obligations of the grant was included in the 2007-08 budget.

Step 2 documents will be filed with the state Water Resources Control Board through the county, after which the state is expected to authorize disbursement of grant funds, retroactive to July 1, 2007.

The city will fund the operation and maintenance of the funded improvements for at least 20 years after completion of the project.

Construction is scheduled to begin in mid-September and be completed by June 1, 2008.

Pulled for discussion:

GREEN PLAN 5-0

The council gave final approval to an amendment of the city code that established a minimum amount of ground-to-sky landscaped open space or area, ranging from 15% to 35%.

Interior changes do not trigger the requirement.

The amendment does requirement California Coastal Commission certification.

ACT V PREZONING 5-0

As a prelude to the annexation of the ACT T V parcel in Laguna Canyon, the council agreed to change the zoning from Orange County Tourist Commercial Area 20A to the city’s Institutional designation.

The change must be certified by the California Coastal Commission.

MONTHLY MOOLA 5-0

The council adopted the resolution approving increases in the monthly stipends paid Arts Commissioners to $80, and to $230 for Planning Commissioners and Design Review Board members, starting Oct. 1. The City Council’s stipends will be raised to $560 a month starting Dec. 1, 2008, following the municipal election.

ARCH BEACH HEIGHTS PARK 5-0

The City Council directed City Manager Ken Frank to look for possible sites for a view park in Arch Beach Heights on Feb. 1, 2005. He was told to come back in the spring with a proposal.

“It has taken us a little longer,” Frank told the council. “But in the interim we acquired some parcels. They cost about $1 million, but we extricated ourselves from a law suit.”

With the acquisition of 32 lots, 12 from one owner and 20 from another, two square blocks below Quivera Street between the paper streets of Alisos and Cortez have been opened up for the proposed park.

There are also other privately owned undeveloped lots in the area, but even without those parcels Frank said a passive park is feasible — perhaps with a couple of picnic tables and “maybe even a drinking fountain.”

The park would also function as a fuel modification zone, to benefit the uphill property owners. Fire-resistant native vegetation would replace the non-fire resistance native plants.

NORTH COAST INTERCEPTOR 5-0

The council awarded the $1,121,000 contract for the reconstruction of the North Coast Interceptor to Steve Bubulo Construction and appropriated $600,000 from the manhole rehab project, $25,000 from the Irvine Cove generator project and $160,000 from the 25 Locations Sewer Main Reconstruction, for a total supplemental funding of $785,000 for the project at Nyes Place.

TRAM SERVICE STUDY 4-1

Councilwoman Cheryl Kinsman proposed extending the free tram service to the southern end of town.

“This is for the people in South Laguna, who don’t have the tram service like everyone in Laguna,” Kinsman said, citing in particular the use by young people to get around town.

Council members said the area is already served by OCTA buses that connect up to the city’s transit system, but they voted to evaluate ridership at the end of summer to determine if the extension would be feasible.

OCTA does not offer a free ride and Kinsman was not appeased by the council proposal. She voted no.

APPEAL DENIED 3-2

The council denied the appeal of a Design Review Board approval of a new 5,352-square foot home and attached three-car garage and 300-square-foot guesthouse at 2095 Temple Hills Drive. The approval came with amendments to reduce the width of the driveway and terminate it at the garage, barricade the end of the street, condition a driveway grade variance to limit it to one home with the inclusion of a 5-foot pedestrian easement dedicated to the city and move the guesthouse closer to the home and on the other side of a swimming pool.

The pre-amended proposal appeared to staff to encourage development of properties below the Temple Hills Drive parcel, currently lacking road access and not legal building sites.

Egly appealed the board approval and voted against the denial, as did Iseman.

Final action was postponed to the Sept. 18 meeting, but building plans were allowed to be presented before that date.

BAY DRIVE 5-0

Revised plans for the 29 Bay Drive project were deemed to have met the requirements set by the council at the Dec. 5 hearing on a request for revocation of the design review approval for the project.

Attorney Philip Kohn told the council the sole reason for Tuesday’s hearing was to determine if the revised plans conformed to the required modifications. Staff reported that the required changes had been made, including lowering the height, elimination of a chimney and a 1 ½-foot reduction in the proposed 12-foot-wide elevator shaft.

However, opponents of the project were allowed to raise other issues previously presented to the council.

Project opponents also had appealed to the courts, but failed to make their case, Kohn said.

The hour-long hearing ended with the property owner’s agreeing to a further reduction in the width of the elevator shaft to 9 feet.