Affordable Housing Doheny Village

What can Laguna learn from neighbor Dana Point and their response to the State mandate for  Affordable Housing?  Here is a sketch of Dana Point’s Doheny Village.

The location will support the construction of a new 306-unit housing complex (reduced from 400 units due to size concerns) on 4.4  acres to replace the existing Capistrano Unified School District bus yard (staff report) for a density of 56 du/acre plus a 1.1 acre recreation area. The development features a mix of studios and 1-, 2- and 3-bedroom apartments less than a mile from the beach, none of the apartments are expected to have a coastal view.

The city’s 2021-2029 Regional Housing Needs Allocation — state housing mandates — call for the city to add 147 very low, 84 low, 101 moderate and 198 above moderate-income units. According to a staff report, 46 of the 306 units proposed — only 15% — falls under affordable housing requirements.

Can the project be funded by state resources?  State funding is at risk as this article shows there's not enough money to go around. https://calmatters.org/housing/2023/12/affordable-housing-california-2/

Situated in an urban area, the project is near retail establishments, making it convenient for residents to walk to nearby amenities. So why burden the project sold as "affordable housing" with an expensive parking garage?

More details about the new Doheny Village:

• In accordance with the Dana Point Zoning Code the project provides 586 parking stalls within the seven-level parking structure (one basement level).
• A Class III bicycle route would be created along the project frontage of Victoria Boulevard and shared-use, 10-foot sidewalks along Sepulveda Avenue and Victoria Boulevard allowing for bicycle travel.
  
• The project will result in 2,086 new daily weekday trips, 214 Saturday midday and  205 Sunday peak hour.
  
• The proposed project would introduce up to 796 additional residents to a 32,815 population.

The TAKE-AWAY FOR THIS PROJECT:

 The "service level" is a measure of vehicle traffic NOT including pedestrians, cyclists, trams or trolleys, it is the measure of motor vehicle capacity the road can sustain. A traffic analysis of the project shows the "service level" remains at 80% to 90% of vehicle capacity before and after completion.

The study found despite a 586 stall seven-story parking garage and 2086 new trips, a Congestion Management Analysis not required for this project.

The increased population may increase the demand for transit facilities in the project vicinity, but would not require new or expanded facilities.

Project pays in-lieu fees to cities of San Juan Capistrano and DP for "incremental cumulative traffic impacts", or in other words pay to play project development.

Back in Laguna Beach  the Neighborhood Congregational Church project as proposed is  72 Units, 108 parking spaces. The developer's portfolio shows affordable housing projects built at 30 dwelliing units per acre for Fountain Valley, Bloomington, and Irvine but the density for the NCC project will be twice that at 60 units per acre. (ref: Notice of Funding Availability for Affordable Housing Project, RELATED CALIFORNIA, May 7 2024).

"The proposed project is a joint effort by an ethical, community-sensitive church and a reputable, experienced developer with an excellent track record" but the product they produce is a 1950 car-centric plan totally inappropriate for Laguna Beach and the beach cities in 2025.

-LS

TRUMP Rally Butler PA

 Election 2024: It started.

"There is no place in America for this kind of Violence (except Television, Social Media, Entertainment)". - numerous political and presidential figures

Children with guns children with drugs children with eBikes. Our behavioral solutions are moral spiritual and educational, not technical.

-LS

Laguna Beach Street Safety Workshop/Questionaire

Laguna Beach City Sponsored: Street Safety Workshop Saturday 6 July 10am. Where are the most dangerous streets around Laguna for pedestrians and cyclists? Take the hot-spot LB City questionnaire below.

You're invited:

Tell the city of Laguna Beach how you feel about their traffic safety issues, take the 5-minute street safety questionnaire.

Thank you for participating.

-LS

Walk Bike or Bus, Hippi 4th

 -LS

July 1 Cal Senate VOTE Complete Streets Campaign

How you can help: show 15 California Assembly Transportation Committee members your support for better safer mobility in Laguna Beach. July 1 the Transportation Committee votes on Senate Bill 960, the Complete Streets Bill to direct Caltrans to support Complete Streets. 

The bill requires the California Department of Transportation (CALTRANS) to set objective goals to prioritize the implementation of comfortable, convenient, and connected facilities for pedestrians, bicyclists, and transit users on all projects ... where applicable.

Complete Streets are streets that are safe and comfortable for people biking, walking, and taking transit, as well as driving motor vehicles. Protected bikeways teach safe bike practice, they reduce accidents and fatalities for road users in all modes of transportation.

-LS

 

Killed by a Traffic Engineer

 

This new book by Wes Marshall shatters the illusion delusion that science underlies our modern transportation system. Our mobility system is obsessed with speed instead of street access. Instead of thinking of just moving cars or vehicles, the better engineers (since 2010) focus on moving people. "When you start thinking about access, it opens up the toolbox. We can start thinking about the bigger picture of how we build not just streets, but also how we establish land uses and connections."

What were Laguna's highway planners thinking in 1940? Maybe let's share our coastal access with visitors so put a freeway through the middle of it. Now we know how well that worked, Laguna ranks the most dangerous city for pedestrians, cyclists, motorcyclists in 103 similar cities (2020) on PCH. For an interview with the author see Bloomberg News.

 

-LS

Undergrounding another Trojan Horse

SR-133 Protect Connect Project

Undergrounding another Trojan Horse  

or Bikelanes for $11,000 per foot

Remember the fire-and-fear campaign of 2018 led by a city Subcommittee to place a $500 Million bond measure before the voters for city-wide undergrounding of SCE electric power utilities? If we don't  underground our utilities they said, Laguna will burn like Paradise CA, but then in a 2018 referendum vote Laguna defeated the bond measure.  Well today they are at it again, rather than a Covid-like campaign the Protect and Connect Project will couch the undergrounding campaign in eco-friendly bikelanes and a transit route down both sides of Laguna Canyon Road (LCR), from Canyon Acres to El Toro Road.   

 

This brief summary is taken from the August 2022 Approved Project Study Report approved by the city manager and Caltrans. Of five alternative designs the preferred design Alt-5 shows the existing 34-foot travelway will expand to add bike-way and sidewalk improvements on both sides, a bus route with 10-stops. The existing right-of-way (RW) is from 68 to 95-feet, the project will consume all of it, even Big Bend at 53 feet grows another 9-feet. The SCE Distribution Transmission and Telecom lines are located in vaults at the maximum RW boundary, in some cases on private property. Here's a typical section of the roadway from Caltrans Alternative-5:

Roadway Section Alternative-5 Option

The Level of Service (LOS) is a Caltrans measure of roadway performance for moving cars (not people bikes bus-passengers or rickshaws). A traffic analysis shows the Level of Service (LOS) for traffic will not improve remaining at 'F' in year 2030 and 2050, the LOS for biking and walking improves over the present no-provision condition. No increase in traffic volume is planned and the speed limit will remain at 40mph. The construction costs estimated are $40 Million, RW Acquisition costs are $78M, the Alt-5 project total is $141 Million.  
 
On Tuesday 6 May the Laguna Beach Public Works department hosted a Suzi-Q public workshop inviting the public to review design alternatives. The meeting was heated and emotional with 100 attendees pushing back the lack of transparency, planning, scale, cost, and disruption to rural Laguna Canyon. Two days later the Mayor's Newsletter said  the meeting was well attended and "a Success"!

Hired city consultants Mark Thomas said of this project: "This will require easements from various [property] owners throughout the corridor to locate the underground facilities outside of the right-of-way. This will be cost prohibitive and potentially require the use of eminent domain and should be considered infeasible."
 
Hired city consultants HDR said of this project:
"The results of the benefit-cost analysis for the Utility Undergrounding alternative generally support the conclusion that a utility undergrounding project along Laguna Canyon Road may be economically worthwhile under certain conditions if such a plan fits the City’s vision for the Laguna Canyon Road corridor, but also that such a project is unlikely to generate benefits well in excess of project costs." UPDATE: By October 2023 Mark Thomas recommended the project move ahead: "With the cumulative benefit of relinquishment and the ability to effectively mitigate risk to the greatest extent possible, it is recommended that the City formally request Caltrans to immediately initiate the relinquishment process of Lag una Canyon Road ." -Agenda Report 9 January 2024.

During the 2018 fire-and-fear campaign there were three project alternatives for SR-133 proposed in a city staff report, Alternative 1-No build option, 2-Underground power utilities $90M, 3-harden the high-risk LCR utility poles for $2M. Alternative 3 would meet the objective for fire protection yet our Subcommittee nary anybody else ever mentioned it again. "Way-to-cheap for canyon beautification"  goes the argument. 

Protected Power Poles Option

 
Finally, since March pending legislation now before the California Senate Appropriations Committee (SB-960 Weiner) will force Caltrans to implement Complete Streets on the entire length of LCR and PCH. Indeed all California highways under their control must conform to this Caltrans mandate Deputy Directive 64, this means CALTRANS MUST provide a multi-modal solution for LCR WHETHER OR NOT LAGUNA PURSUES UNDERGROUNDS.  
 
Given pricey consultants hired for expert project recommendations, shouldn't our city Subcommittee heed the advice? Is modifying LCR for no traffic improvement worth the project cost? Just Wondering.

Les Miklosy
Resident

UBER Unlocks Cities

 "Let's Ride Together"

2018 UBER-mercial

Concerning LB Facilities Master Plan, it's not a Caltrans problem, it's our problem. Let's unlock cities together rather than apart.  

-LS

Car Culture Recognizes National VRU Day

 

 

Thursday May 8 was National Bike Walk and Roll to School Day, who knew?  In car-culture we are known as VRU's "Vulnerable Road Users".

-LS

Laguna Canyon Road Protect and Connect Workshop

Are you concerned about preserving the wilderness, the small scale residential neighborhood, the business district, the CALTRANS/City transportation plan for Laguna Canyon Road? Then please join the public workshop about the CALTRANS realignment of our Canyon Road. Bring your questions, concerns, and values to this public workshop sponsored by the City of Laguna Beach and Department of Public Works.   

UPDATE: 15-Questions Protect Connect Workshop 

 UPDATE: 15-Answers to Questions by LB Public Works

-LS