ORANGE COUNTY PLATFORM : Controls on Architectural Design and Style Have a Place in Laguna Beach

Laguna Beach has a reputation of being a beautiful city, one that is becoming increasingly unique as we see the population increase throughout Orange County and the Southern California area in general.

In the face of this growth, Laguna Beach is attempting to maintain the appearance and unique charm of this town.

One of the distinct benefits of the city’s Design Review Board is that it enables Laguna Beach to have more control of and a greater expression about its physical appearance.

The Design Review Board provides the city with the ability to orchestrate the physical appearance of the community in a direct manner, and I think that is beneficial to the design people and the residents who come into the city.

We have guidelines and requirements that attempt to illustrate generally what we consider good design for Laguna Beach. We don’t want to dictate design because we don’t want to inhibit creativity.

But at the same time I think it’s important to provide design professionals some guidelines.

We do not specify architectural styles. We encourage a variety of architectural styles. That is what makes Laguna Beach unique.

In some cities, you see a lot of Spanish-style buildings with red tile roofs. We don’t have a predominant theme.