Briefly In The News

Josephson to appear at Exchange Club

Steve Josephson, founder of Gallimaufry Performing Arts, will speak on the topic, “What is art? And what is our responsibility as artists?” at the Thursday meeting of the Laguna Beach Exchange Club.

With Gallimaufry Performing Arts, he has staged 75 productions since 2004, including three in Edinburgh, Scotland for the Edinburgh Fringe Festival. The most recent Fringe production was “Ray Bradbury’s ‘2116,’” on which he collaborated with science fiction author Ray Bradbury and composer John Hoke.

The meeting will begin at 12:15 p.m.at the Watermarc Restaurant (upstairs), 448 S. Coast Hwy., Laguna Beach. Non-members cost is $20 and includes lunch. For more information, visit LagunaBeachExchangeClub.org or call Katy Moss at (949) 494-0703 or Jim Rue at (949) 494-6684.

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Census fall surprises state officials

California officials had expected the population of Laguna Beach to increase in the 2010 Census, according to City Manager John Pietig in his March 11 Friday Update to city staff.

If the city’s population had exceeded 25,000, as the state estimated, the city would have had to up-zone the High Density Residential Zone from 22 units per acre to 30 units per acre to accommodate state-mandated low income housing requirements, Pietig stated. Instead, the Laguna Beach population decreased by 4.2% from 23,727 in 2000 to 22,723 in 2010. Prior to the Census report, the state had estimated the city’s population to be in excess of 25,000, he stated.

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League holds meeting on Village Entrance

The League of Women Voters of Laguna Beach will present a town meeting on the long-planned Village Entrance project at 9:15 a.m. March 26, at the Unitarian Universalist Fellowship of Laguna Beach, 429 Cypress Drive. The meeting will be moderated by Vera Martinez and will focus on the history of the effort to enhance the city’s gateway at Laguna Canyon Road and Forest Avenue.

Council Member Verna Rollinger will provide her perspective of prior efforts on the project. Also speaking will be landscape architect Bob Borthwick, who prepared proposed plans for the entrance and is also a member of the council-appointed flood-prevention task force focusing on Laguna Canyon Road. For more information, call Jean Raun at (949) 494 2247.

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Parking restrictions on Alta Vista proposed

The Parking, Traffic and Circulation Committee will meet at 6 p.m. Thursday, to consider restrictions on parking at multiple spots on the 400 and 500 blocks of Alta Vista Way from Nido Way to Kilo Way, according to Liz Vazquez-Avila of Public Works.

The meeting will be held at the Community Center, 380 Third St. The public is invited to attend and comment on the proposal. Written comments must be received no later than noon on the day of the meeting. Comments may be faxed to (949) 494-1864, e-mailed to lavila@lagunabeachcity.net, or mailed to the City of Laguna Beach, Public Works Department, 505 Forest Ave., Laguna Beach.

For more information, call Vazquez-Avila at (949) 497-0344.

—Compiled by Cindy Frazier