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Our City General Plan is wholly out of date and inconsistent between plan Elements, it has arrived in this state because our city does not follow policy mandates from the State Legislature.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