Dear Laguna Beach Neighbors -

Here’s my City Council meeting agenda summary (the “Agenda in Brief”) for the upcoming City Council meeting set for Tuesday, November 12, 2024.  It is our lone November meeting, so there are a lot of items there.  This is a “sorta-brief, sorta-not” way to highlight items that may be missed, so that folks in the community are more aware of what’s coming up.  

I don’t highlight every item – it’s always important to check out the full agenda at this link, and to use that as the primary resource for the Council agenda.  

1. On the consent calendar (meaning a place for generally non-controversial items that we want to conduct via one vote to help the meeting move along), is the following:
   
   - Contract award for new shade structures near the play area at Moulton Meadows Park. 
   - A contract award for improvements to Main Beach Park.  This project, which has gone through extensive design review, would start soon and hopefully be done before Summer 2025. It involves only modest changes to this terrific park - mostly it’s about replacing and upgrading lights, trash receptacles, and some of the circulation infrastructure.
   - The near-completion of a long process to remove Moulton Niguel Water District from the South Orange County Wastewater Authority (SOCWA). 
   - Updating the training that is recommended or required for persons who volunteer to be on our Commissions, Boards, and Committees.
   - A summary of activities at the Community Development Department, especially as it relates to the improvements we’ve been trying to make to have a more effective and efficient Zoning Plan Check process.
   
   
2. On the regular calendar (meaning a place where each item is heard separately, as they may be controversial or might require additional focus and discussion) are these items:
   
   

- The current one-year trial period for a “Speed Table” at Bluebird Canyon Drive is up.  We’ve gotten a lot of emails from folks (100-ish!) offering their thoughts and asking that the speed table be removed, or kept in place, or or changed in some manner.  We really appreciate the feedback. Council will hear a presentation about the speed table, ask questions of staff, and then open public comment.  At the end of public comment and during deliberations, Council can decide to keep the table in place, remove it, or modify it.  Staff’s thinking is that the data shows that the table has reduced speeds in this area, so we are not recommending any changes.  However, we understand if the Council decides to take another path.

1. A discussion about Mayor pro Tem Rounaghi and Council Member Orgill’s request to have a Council ad hoc committee on “government efficiency” - the proposed scope of work includes some significant things - such as consideration of changing the model for our City Attorney services, as well as to have a community dialogue about the pros and cons of becoming aCharter City.  If this was to be proposed and a charter drawn up, it would have to go on a citywide ballot (like November 2026).
2. Consideration of a proposed agreement between the CIty and Visit Laguna Beach to allocate about $5 million over ten years towards improving the downtown, as well as one-time assistance to artist / workforce housing.  Under the proposal, a new “Downtown Improvement Fund” will use about $500,000 per year from Visit Laguna Beach’s hotels’ self-assessment to further enhance resident and visitor amenities and infrastructure Downtown.  
3. Consideration of scheduling a special Council meeting on Monday, December 9, 2024 (the day before a regular Council meeting on Tuesday, December 10, 2024) to certify the November 5, 2025 general election results and to address any needed reorganizations associated with that vote (including designating the next Mayor and Mayor pro Tem.  This special meeting would be more ceremonial in tone than a regular meeting, taking time for photos, remarks, and welcoming friends and family of any new and outgoing Council members (if applicable).  It can be a good idea to separate the ceremonial aspects of a reorganization with business matters, as again there is one Council meeting in December (and the business agenda there is filling up fast).   

3. There are two public hearing items - one is a “call-up” from Council member Orgill relating to the proposed Better Buzz Coffee use at the old BJ’s Pizza (off of Coast Highway between Forest and Ocean).  A call-up is like an appeal, but involves an action whereby one or more City Council members decide that they would like to review an approval or denial of a particular project up at the Council level.   The other item involves 8 Rockledge Road, and may be withdrawn after issues between the applicant and others were resolved.

Please consider attending the Council meetings with us - they’re held at 505 Forest Avenue, this time starting at 5:00 p.m. for the regular session. For more detail about these and other items, please review the actual agenda and staff reports at this link. 

Another item of note:  

• There still is more time to offer thoughts about how to make our design review process more efficient.  As I noted last time, we’ve written up the formal proposal from that workshop in the form of a staff report and a “redline” version of what the Code might look like.  We’re seeking your feedback from now through November 14, 2024.  Please consider taking a look at the proposed modifications and weighing in.  There is a form on the webpage to make it easy to submit comments.

Thanks for reading and for being interested in our community.

Sincerely,

Dave Kiff
City Manager