PARKING AS A SOCIAL DEFECT

 

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From the back cover:  

"Parking, quite literally, has a death grip on America: each year a shocking number of Americans kill one another over parking spots, and we routinely do ridiculous things for parking, contorting our professional, social, and financial lives to get a spot. Since the advent of the car, we have deformed our cities in a Sisyphean quest for car storage, and as a result, much of the nation's most valuable real estate is now devoted to empty vehicles.  Parking determines the design of new buildings and the fate of old ones, traffic patterns and the viability of transit, neighborhood politics and municipal finance, and the overall quality of public space. Is this really the best use of our finite resources? Is parking really more important than everything else?"

 Several points bear repeating for Laguna Beach: 

• we have deformed our town for the incessantly reoccurring quest for car storage.
•  our town's most valuable real estate is devoted to empty vehicles
• parking determines the fate of old buildings
• parking determines the design of new buildings
• parking determines municipal finance
• parking determines the overall quality of public space 

 Should parking be the best use of our finite resources? 

Is parking more important than everything else?  

 

 

-LS 

 

 

EXCLUSIVE: LAGUNA BEACH AFFORDABLE HOUSING POLICY

BEFORE POLICY

 

 

 

 

AFTER POLICY

 

 

 

FINISHED UPGRADES FOR 7-TENTS
 

 

 

 FEATURES

• 7-units with shared Vestibule
• Shared amenities 
• Asphalt flooring 
• Walk to downtown
• Senior Center Suzi-Q EZ access 
• Whole Foods and Banking Services
• Car-free living in Laguna Beach  

RIP an Opportunity Squandered

-LS

Distracted Motorists Wake-up Call

 

 G I V E   A   S I G N A L!!!

 

 

eBike Road Safety Course June 7

Join us for e-Bike Road Safety Training at the old Christmas tree parking lot, that's City Parking Lot-10 on June 7 by appointment only. To make your appointment contact Park Ranger Kirk-Johnson at jkirk-johnson@lagunabeachcity.net

 

 -LS

LB GENERAL PLAN NON-COMPLIANCE

During the Laguna Beach City Budget Workshop held 13 May 2025 a whole presentation slide was devoted to the LB General Plan with the admission the Plan needs updating for decades but remains in a neglected catatonic state.  The LB General Plan contains city policy guidelines presented in 10-volumes or Elements, it is our State mandate and resident contract to achieve community goals by following the guidelines therein.

Our City General Plan is wholly out of date and inconsistent between plan Elements, it has arrived in this state because our city does not follow policy mandates from the State Legislature. Here's an example concerning our city mobility plan:

• Our Land Use Element was last amended April 12 2022 
• Our Circulation Element written in 1974 was last updated in 1999 - 26 years ago

 

 The corresponding sections from California Legislature Statutes follow below and are easily verified:

Article 5 Section 65089.6   says a Congestion Management Plan CMP may draw State legal action if not followed.

Article 5 Section 65300.5  says the Legislature intends the General Plan and parts thereof are an internally consistent and integrated statement of policies for CLB.

Article 5 Section 65302  says the Land Use Element shall receive annual updates, particularly in areas subjected to flooding. It also says the Land Use Element shall be correlated with the Circulation Element for consistency, therefore both require annual updates. If inconsistent, the GP is non-compliant.

Article 5 Section 65302 (2)(A) says (what Complete Streets Policy says) beginning January 2011 upon revision of the Circulation Element, the legislative body (City Attorney) shall plan for a balanced, multi-modal transportation network that meets the needs of all roadway users.

From these examples the City fails compliance with their LB General Plan in several ways:

1. No annual reviews of all Elements
2. Consistency between Elements
3. Persistent neglect of major Elements to hide noncompliance
4. Failed to meet compliance deadline dates

In the May16 LB City Council meeting the City introduced Safe Streets Laguna to address vehicle collision injuries and fatalities. The Legislature says we should do the following:

• Incorporate the Federal Highway Administration’s Safe System Approach
• Develop bicycle plans, pedestrian plans, and traffic calming plans
• Identify bicycle corridors
• Eliminate fatalities
• Address all micro-mobility devices street users enjoy
• Set goals for initiation and completion of all actions identified in the plans within 25 years of the date of adoption of the modified circulation element

You can take Laguna's persistent issues like parking, traffic, undergrounding, promenades, budgets and trace the origins back to non-compliance with the State mandates. 

Example #1:  the General Plan speaks to a Laguna mobility system that diminishes the use of automobiles.  The 13 June 2023 LB Agenda, "Parking and Transportation Demand Management Report" contains a proposal for 11-parking structures. The GP policy and plans are incompatible.

 

Example #2  What are the goals of a promenade, WHY build one? Experimental parkletts were installed without defining project requirements,  Promenade IV was designed before  hydrology engineering was performed. 

 

Build-up and tear-down is no way to implement General Plan policy. Getting our policy guidelines in order will identify project goals and insure everyone pulls in the same direction to meet those project goals.

The Laguna Beach Vision 2030 Strategic Plan cautioned:

   "If you don't know where you are going, you'll end-up somewhere else."

 

 -LS

Laguna's Park Avenue Two-Wheel Hazard

In wet or damp weather that black paint-strip is slick-as-snot - a technical term for a slippery road condition for road cyclists, e-bikers and motorcyclists.

 

On a damp day or when raining that black paint may "take you down" - another term for crashing. On descending Park Avenue this line crosses the driving lane in a curve right when you need your brakes to slow down . LB Public Works has been notified, until this condition is repaired, riding in the bike-lane is your safest route on Park Ave.  

UPDATE:   May 12 2025 The contractor in direction from LB Public Works have returned to this location and added an aggregate coating to improve traction in wet weather improving 2-wheel safety.

Thank You LB Public Works ! 

 

-LS

RIDE FREE METROLINK ARROW 22 April 2025

Ride Metrolink FREE on Tuesday 22 April 2025

 For details, promotions see their info page. 

 

 

LB Forest Promenade: a MYSTERY in HISTORY

Why build a Promenade  in the middle of iconic downtown Laguna Beach when:

• You don't know what problems it solves
•  You don't know why you built it or its cost
• You don't know when it is finished
• You don't let Residents vote on it.
  

Here's a ride through local history to show how the Pedestrian Zone originated and the City collaborative projects that attempted to un-pave a parking-lot.

 

 PARK (ING)-DAY

September 17 2010 the City of Laguna Beach hosted PARK (ING)-DAY (YouTube video) to demonstrate how to de-pave a parking-lot. Organized by Transition Laguna the city and community closed lower Forest Avenue to car traffic for a pedestrian only experience to demonstrate the value of Community Space over Parking Space. 

 PARKLETT I

 November 2017 the Laguna Beach Beautification Council coordinating with the City of Laguna Beach installed a Parklett on lower Laguna Avenue to demonstrate the de-paving concept. Council members are L-R Lorene Laguna, Dora Orgill, Leah Vasquez, Ellen DeGeneres.

 

PROMENADE I

 In 2018 the Laguna Beach City Council approved the first downtown Pedestrians Zone  on lower Forest Avenue naming the intervention the Forest Promenade.

PROMENADE II

September 2022  the Promenade received an upgrade in furniture and an extensive expansion in scope, from South Coast Highway to Glenneyre. The location redecorated for the fall holidays.

PROMENADE III

 2024  The furniture is replaced again, better decking installed with curb transitions to prevent falls by pedestrians.

 

 

PROMENADE IV 

2023

Consultant have provided elevation and plan views of lower Forest Avenue for the latest concept in pastel colors for Promenade IV.  Plan views from Consultants SWA are TBD.

 

 

 Here are the latest plans for Promenade IV from Laguna Beach SWA Consultants, DKS traffic study and Arborists DUDEK.

Item 5.4 Staff Report
Attachment 1 - Resolution No. 25-0319
Attachment 2 - Application
Attachment 3 - Plans
Attachment 4 - Traffic and Parking Report
Attachment 5 - Arborist Report
Late Public Comments

 

-LS