Mailbag - June 28, 2002

I support the cancellation of the proposed flood control project that

had been approved by the Laguna Beach City Council.

First, the prohibitive cost of the project should be enough, let alone

the loss of beach when the sewage water is allowed to flow freely

through the most used section of Main Beach.

I have traveled extensively around the world and understand the

unparalleled beauty of Laguna.

The proposed sewer running through the most traveled section of beach

would wreak havoc on tourism.

I have been a daily avid Main Beach attendee since the early 80’s

and have seen two floods. One came after the devastating fire that left

no vegetation to sufficiently absorb the rain water; the other five years

after that did flood the town. Clean up was quick and business continued

as normal shortly after.

If this flood canal was constructed it would be a permanent scar in

Laguna Beach that would never heal. Thank you for your time and please

give my support for the cancellation of the project.

Anna Madeline

Aliso Viejo

With reference to the City Councils’ decision to stop the Broadway

storm drain; I submit my 101% approval for this vote. Hopefully they

will use the money on our sewer system.

Gary Cogorno

Laguna Beach

Yes the city made the right decision! The flood channel was ill

designed and poorly thought out!

Bill Dolby

Laguna Beach

I am responding to the article regarding the flood channel in Laguna

Beach.

I am a resident of Laguna. I believe the City Council made the right

choice in NOT moving the flood channel. The few flood days every 5 years

will be less costly than moving it all together. Not to mention, a lot

less stressful and inconvenient for ALL residents, visitors and people

who take the Coast Highway to get to work, etc.

Also, thousands of people visit our Main beach to enjoy the water,

sand, sunsets and view. If you take the sandy beach away, our community

would not be the quaint, beach community it is today!

April Oswald

Laguna Beach

A belated thank you for a good deed

A thank you to the early morning lady walkers who helped me three

weeks ago.

I fell off my bike on Cliff Drive at Divers Cove and broke my clavicle

and two ribs.

The women immediately came to my aid, called 911 (thanks to cell

phones), made me comfortable and took my bike to a friend’s house.

I would like to thank them all for the help. I’m recovering slowly and

last week (two weeks after the accident) I was back at the office and

working part time.

Jim Lashley

Laguna Beach

Time to keep pedestrians safer

As the festival opens, many visitors will be walking down Broadway.

They have to cross Acacia Street and Cliff Drive, a mortally dangerous

intersection. Why?

The pedestrians are unaware that cars are behind them, making, at high

speed, a halfway right turn into the alternate route to Coast Highway by

way of Cliff Drive.

Drivers are not forewarned of a pedestrian crossing except for two

signs on Broadway that are hardly noticeable. But now it is up to the

city to protect pedestrians.

A big sign should be placed at the intersection reading, “Watch out

for traffic behind you!”

Gus Mathieu

Laguna Beach

Preserving local lands is what Sierra Club is about

In his letter of June 14 (Think opportunity, not fantasy), architect

Morris Skenderian harks back to a meeting in his office some months ago

with Penny Elia and another person -- “a credible representative of the

Sierra Club” -- to discuss the Driftwood Estates project.

By innuendo, Skenderian suggests that perhaps Elia is not a credible

representative of the Sierra Club. Nothing could be further from the

truth.

As a 35-year member, donor and active participant in Sierra Club

activities, I can testify unequivocally that neighborhood associations

like the Hobo & Aliso Canyons group, chaired by Elia, are a major part of

the Sierra Club’s program to form grass-roots task forces to preserve

open space.

The Sierra Club is not dedicated solely to the protection of vast

wilderness such as the Arctic National Wildlife Reserve. Just to our

north, a Sierra Club task force worked diligently with local activists

to save Crystal Cove.

To our south, a Sierra Club task force is an integral part of the

campaign to keep the Foothill South toll road out of two state parks and

to prevent the loss of many of hundreds of acres of open space to

development on Rancho Mission Viejo land.

It is people like Elias, working with grass roots groups, who cherish

the remnants of nature in their backyards, who are the heart and soul of

what makes the Sierra Club, and the whole American environmental

movement, such a vibrant example to the world.

Skenderian refers in his letter to an offer to deed 226 acres “to a

public agency as open space in perpetuity” as part of his client’s

proposal to develop 18 residential parcels on six acres of the property.

He laments what would be a missed “opportunity to obtain more than 220

acres of open space for the city of Laguna Beach” if the Driftwood

Estates subdivision is disallowed. And he is perplexed that this

“information was never delivered to the public for their consideration.”

One would think that such an offer, seriously made and in good faith,

would be presented formally, in writing, to the city by the

owner/developer, who would then not have to wait for an announcement by

the local neighborhood association or Sierra Club task force to gain

public consideration.

It is testimony to the importance of our last remaining areas of

unspoiled southern maritime chaparral that the effort of local neighbors

to protect Hobo Aliso Canyons and Ridges has gained the interest and

support of the Sierra Club.

Skenderian’s letter makes note of the current degraded conditions of

the six acres he wants to see developed. I bought my house on Driftwood

Drive in 1960 and have walked these hills innumerable times. Morris is

not alone in mourning the litter and debris that has been allowed to

accumulate. But, the crownbeard still flowers in abundance here, and the

fragrant mallow, chamise, sage and sage brush -- all disappearing

habitat for birds, reptiles and insects known only in our ecological

macro-niche.

If the promontory acres have become degraded, this is a failure of

careful stewardship on the part of the owner, and not a hopeful

predictor regarding his plans for future development.

Skenderian wishes to correct the blighted condition, thus improving

“the aesthetics and safety of the neighborhood.” This is a commendable

goal. Will it be achieved by a phalanx of mansions arrayed in close order

atop Hobo Aliso Ridge? I don’t think so.

All 226 acres should be preserved as open space; damaged portions must

be restored and the whole area should be joined to the existing

contiguous regional parks where their irreplaceable habitat can be

guarded in perpetuity.

Jeanie Bernstein

Laguna Beach

City should maintain certain trees

Yes, some not-so-large trees and historical ones should be maintained

by the city as in other parts of town.

One in a private house yard on Sea Cliff, a stately sycamore, should

get trimmed or watched for maintenance because many enjoy it -- even

those walking on Coast Highway.

Same with some around Ti Amo that add to the charm of our village.

John Nootbaar

Laguna Beach