Mailbag: Retention basin must be looked into before rains

As the prospect of substantial rain and possible flooding comes closer, questions are being raised as to whether we’re ready.

After the 2010 flood, as a member of the City Council I established a city task force to look at what we could do locally to arm ourselves against the next big one.

The task force, made up of residents including engineers and residents of Laguna Canyon, discovered early on that the hillsides in Laguna Canyon are mostly rock with very little soil. Once the soil has absorbed all the water it will hold, every drop from then on is going directly to the ocean as fast as it can.

It made 26 recommendations, all of which were adopted and most of which have been implemented. They included an early warning system, brush clearing notices, annual education letters, better preparation, and encouraging canyon residents and businesses in the downtown to install temporary door barriers (dams) that prevent water from entering a property through the doorway.

Two of the most beneficial projects have yet to be implemented, but one of them is in the works and one is under consideration by the county. The project with the most impact would increase the size of the flood control channel under Coast Highway. This project which is now being processed by Caltrans and the city, would increase the amount of water the channel can handle by more than 30%. This would be huge.

The other relates to the retention basin located near where El Toro Road meets the toll road. This basin was designed to handle the runoff from the adjacent residential development. Apparently without consideration of the flooding impact on Laguna Canyon Road, the way the basin functions was later changed to handle the additional runoff from the toll road.

The redesign of the retention basin causes it to hold water to be released later in the storm, when Laguna Canyon Road is already inundated. The county is looking at this problem to determine if there is a way to release some of the water and let it run down the canyon before flood stage is reached.

If you are concerned about this, as I am, let the city and the county know. The expansion of the channel under Coast Highway won’t be done for this winter, but perhaps there is something temporary the county can do about the retention basin.

Verna Rollinger

Laguna Beach

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Reducing flights is long-fought uphill battle

I have noticed several letters to editors referring to flights over Laguna.

In 2011, I heard planes flying over Laguna and researched the issue and was told pilots/airlines decide at what point the planes turn and that if they do not go out as far over water to gain altitude they save on fuel and time.

Hence, we hear them as they come back and gain altitude. I was told to call the airlines and complain. For years, parts of Newport Beach has taken the brunt of noise and has been working on changing this. Our congressional representative is from Huntington Beach (initially some flights were going over Huntington Beach) and has his political base is Newport Beach — both areas do not want any flights or want to minimize flights over their cities. This seems to have resulted in more flights over Laguna Beach.

At that time, I went before the City Council. Councilwoman Toni Iseman said that she would take this issue and pursue it. I understand she has made several visits to Washington, D.C., on the subject and a member of staff at City Hall periodically sends out a report on status of the situation which so far has not changed anything.

Last year I saw an article in the Los Angeles Times about business groups in Orange County working together to change the hours at JWA, increase the number of flights and expand the geographic range of flights to increase tourism and business.

Guess who will win that issue with Rep. Dana Rohrabacher (R-Huntington Beach) and some of the same folks who wanted to create an international airport at what is now the Great Park working together?

Ganka Brown

Laguna Beach

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Some solutions to canyon traffic

I don’t live in Laguna Beach, but I drive to and from the city quite often. I always have to carefully time my trips to Laguna because of potential traffic issues. The following are my thoughts on mitigating some of these ongoing traffic trouble spots.

Suggestions for decreasing traffic volume in Laguna Beach:

Move traffic from Coast Highway and Laguna Canyon to the toll road.

The following is a quick, relatively inexpensive-to-implement, short-term solution. With the assumption that both the city of Laguna Beach and the Transportation Corridor Agency have complementary interests — the city would like to reduce the number of cars that are passing though Laguna while the Transportation Corridor Agency would like to increase usage of the 73 toll road.

By working closely together, a reasonably priced and balanced solution could be achievable. First, make the 73 toll road free. As a first-step experiment, offer free usage of the toll road for a limited period of time, and maybe only during morning and afternoon rush hours.

With the right publicity, you should be able to see immediate results. I believe that there will be a reduction in traffic volume through Laguna during these hours of free usage of the toll road. On the other hand, the toll roads will be able to quantify/measure any changes in traffic volume during the free periods, granted some of that additional traffic will have nothing to do with Laguna traffic reduction. Based on the results you should be able to decide on future steps.

Another option, because free is good but not always feasible. Make the toll road free or subsidized for selected drivers — drivers from the neighboring cities (from San Clemente to Costa Mesa) who regularly pass through Laguna. In this case, both LB and the toll road have the incentive to move more drivers to use the toll road.

This is how you select these drivers: First you strategically position the same technology that the toll roads use to charge their customers. By analyzing the data collected, you will be able to identify driving pattern, i.e., where are these drivers coming from, where are they headed, how often and when they drive through Laguna, etc.

Some of these drivers, meeting certain criteria and with the right incentives, can be diverted to the toll road.

It may need adjustments but with continued monitoring of the driving patterns and adjusting the incentives you will get more cars using the toll road and less on Canyon Road.

Suggestions for decreasing traffic jams on Laguna Canyon Road:

Most of the traffic jams in the canyon originate in the 2.4-mile stretch between Canyon Road/ El Toro intersection, and Canyon Road/Canyon Acres intersection. There are several reasons for this, some of which can be mitigated relatively quickly and relatively inexpensively, especially compared to widening the Canyon road

First, the traffic light by LCAD:

Based on traffic load, the traffic light by the college should be delayed between each time it stops traffic — when there is no traffic load — turn it on ASAP. The bigger the traffic load, the longer the intervals should be between each time a pedestrian will be able to cross the road.

Ideally, a pedestrian bridge would solve the traffic issues related to the pedestrian light at LCAD, but the high costs of meeting the Americans with Disabilities Act has complicated the implementation of this solution. If the ADA would accommodate a hybrid solution, a combination of a less expensive pedestrian bridge that does not meet the ADA requirements and an “on demand” road crossing light could solve the problem and bring the cost down substantially.

Second, the underutilized median lane between the Laguna Canyon Road/El Toro intersection and the Canyon Road/Canyon Acres intersection.

The median lane is regularly used to accommodate left turns (mostly turning east).

If all left turns in the stretch between those two intersections were eliminated, the freed-up median could be used as an additional traffic lane. It can be used based on traffic volume, added it to the south lane or a north lane based on traffic demand by turning it to a reversible lane — a lane in which traffic may travel in either direction, depending on certain conditions.

To accommodate the businesses that the median lane was serving, U-turn options would be needed at the El Toro intersection and the Canyon Acres intersection.

Additional U-turn options should be considered between the above intersections in the form of an “on demand” stop light and/or roundabout(s).

I believe that these solutions — albeit only short-term solutions — represent a workable compromise between those who want no change, and those that want to widen Laguna Canyon Road.

Yori Neumark

Laguna Woods

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City should restrict smoking in residential areas

We are looking for ways to get the word out, gather more signatures, and make a much needed change.

For over a year now, my family and I have had to deal with the secondhand smoke traveling from our neighbors patio into our bedroom and living room.

We wake up to cigarette smoke in our bedroom and go to bed with it at night. I have twin baby boys, less than a year old, and a 5-year-old. All three are continuously having to breathe in this secondhand smoke. With all that we know about secondhand smoke, still allowing this to happen is simply not right.

Laguna Beach has other laws in regards to no smoking, such as no smoking on beaches and certain public areas, and a certain distance from restaurants. However Laguna Beach has failed to pass a law to protect its residents in the one place they should feel the safest — their own home.

Thirty-four other cities and counties in California have smoke-free housing policies, meaning ordinances that restrict smoking in residential areas in an effort to address secondhand smoke affecting neighboring units.

Laguna Beach over the past decade has grown to become a family city. With more families moving in who have small children, isn’t it time that the City Council stepped up and started protecting our children?

Sign the petition and get the City Council to ban smoking on patios and areas that the secondhand smoke can affect neighbors: thepetitionsite.com/184/024/996/ban-residential-patio-smoking-in-laguna-beach-now.

Gil Medeiros

Laguna Beach