Sorry to see McCallas leave All...
Sorry to see McCallas leave
All of us at Bushards Pharmacy will miss our close and longtime
neighbors at McCalla Pharmacy. We have both served the residents and
visitors of Laguna Beach together for many, many years. We have been
neighbors on Forest Avenue since McCallas opened in 1958. (Joe
Bushard opened his first store in 1946 across from the Hotel Laguna
and then moved onto Forest Avenue in 1949.) We are sorry to see our
good friends at McCalla’s move away.
We thank the residents of Laguna Beach for supporting all of the
Downtown businesses and we at Bushards Pharmacy will continue to
serve Laguna throughout the years to come.
SHEILA BUSHARD-JAMISON
and TONY D’ALTORIO
Owners, Bushards Pharmacy
Thinking about McCallas stirs up myriad memories. 1960 -- The
Huston family moves to Laguna Beach, husband Dan, wife Mary Lou,
daughters Holly, Haven, Hilary and our dog Pierre and cat Sheba.
I was a real estate loan agent and felt it could help me to become
active in one of the service clubs. In 1960, with less than 6,000
population, Laguna had five active clubs, a real small-town
atmosphere. I joined the Optimists. There was also the Rotary, Lions,
Kiwanis and Elks. A few names I recall among the old timers I met --
Pete Kawaratani, Joe Andrus, Charles McCalla, the Marriners, Dean
Renfro, John Hedges, Eschbach the florist, Lorna Mills. (Not all
these were Optimist Club members but worked with us in civic
activities.)
The Optimist Club started the Labor Day Pancake Breakfast at
Heisler Park. We were able to contribute sizably to help build the
Boys Club, donate to the Joplins Boys Ranch, sponsor a Little League
team and help build Riddle Field. In those days the Festival grounds
were not fenced and the Optimists did their job one night a week. We
took tickets and sold programs. After the show we patrolled the
grounds until the police took over at midnight. High school kids were
paid a dollar a night to usher.
Joe Andrus (the plumber) was also the scout master of the Explorer
Scout Troup, also a beneficiary of the Optimist Club. Parking has
always been a problem in Downtown Laguna. Dean Renfro ran the nursing
home on Glenneyre Street near Park Avenue. He was a city councilman
and mayor and headed the campaign to build the parking structure. The
opponents could only see total doom for the village atmosphere.
Aren’t we glad it is there now?
Always active and full of energy, Mac McCalla gave generously of
time and money. If you wanted a laugh, you would stop by the bar at
The White House (Bob Mikels was the proprietor) and listen in on the
gang of truly weird characters that met there almost daily. Virgil
Partch and the Interlandi brothers were ring leaders. I recall Stuart
Avis, Klass Electric, Bentons Coffee Shop. In 1964 Mrs. Huston, Mary
Lou, went to work at McCallas. She retired in December, 38 1/2years.
She was now the official baby holder and puppy patter. What a parade
of funny folk wandered in and out at McCallas. It could make a
hilarious sitcom.
McCallas began a delivery service that went beyond merely taking a
prescription to a customer’s door. It involved feeding pets, acting
as a taxi service, picking up food -- whatever. Bud McCalla just
wanted to be a good neighbor. Susie McCalla Ornelas has been carrying
on this tradition and we truly mourn the loss of another Forest
Avenue old-timer.
The years go by too fast.
DAN HUSTON
Laguna Beach
* EDITOR’S NOTE: McCallas is open at its new location at
Pavilions on Boat Canyon Drive.
Making El Morro a campsite is wrong
The proposal to turn El Morro Village into a campsite is
outrageous; to think about separating the small community. When any
one thinks of El Morro Village they picture a breath-taking coastline
with its small community of quaint beach homes -- its beach life with
flags flying, umbrellas sticking out of the sand, people playing in
the water, and plenty of room to take a stroll on the soft sand.
People have been coming to El Morro Village for more than 70
years. It is a historic site of Laguna Beach. Tourists come to Laguna
Beach for its old beach charm. Since El Morro Village is such a big
part of Laguna’s history it would be a shame to see its coastal
presence be destroyed.
Laguna Beach is known for its picturesque qualities such as the
vision of the El Morro homes on the beach. It would be a great
tragedy to see such a romantic community ruined when there is room
for both increased public access and the beach village to co-exist.
Not only would we lose such a stunning stretch of this historic
beach icon, but also we would be putting the children at El Morro
Elementary at risk by this campground. The only way to ensure their
safety is not to open a campground right next to our most prized
possession, our children.
We must stop this disaster before what used to be elegant beach
community becomes covered in trash and filth. Campers don’t care
about Laguna Beach, they just want a place to hang out and will not
think twice about treating the site poorly. By constructing a camp
you will be saying that not only are the residents of this great town
not important but that a historic part of our beach community will be
destroyed forever. How do we go from a historic El Morro Village to a
repelling day camp?
PATTY MASSARO
Laguna Beach
No more extensions needed for El Morro
The state plans for the El Morro conversion project should proceed
as planned without delay. The latest ploy / proposal from the El
Morro Village Community Assn. is another ridiculous attempt to delay
the process. Crystal Cove State Park belongs to the people.
PAMELIA D. STRAYER
Laguna Beach
Laguna Greenbelt Inc. board member
Crystal Cove is a state park ... an inappropriate location for
private housing.
VERNA ROLLINGER
Laguna Beach
After the extensions that have already been given to the El Morro
Village Community Assn. I am appalled that the state would even
consider yet another extension.
All of the mobile homes should be out now and the land turned over
from these squatters to the public.
ALLEN LOMAN
Laguna Beach
Disingenuous is too kind a word to describe the plan put forward
by the El Morro Village Community Assn. This is just a transparent
attempt to keep the public out of a public park. Let’s review the
facts:
1. The El Morro residents have been living on state park land for
almost 25 years.
2. During that time they have been paying absurdly low rents
($400-$700 per month) and have been able to sublet their trailers for
as much as $2,000 per week.
3. They were given 20 years’ notice that they would have to vacate
their trailers and were then given another five years (until the end
of 2004).
4. Their faulty septic tanks, leach field and urban runoff have
degraded El Moro Canyon and Creek and have caused water quality
problems at the beach.
5. Although El Moro beach is accessible via the parking lot about
1/2 mile to the north, the hike involved and the presence of the
trailers makes this a de facto private beach.
6. The plan by the California State Park system would remove the
trailers, restore the creek bed, remove paving, end sources of
pollution and open up this portion of Crystal Cove State Park to all
the people of California, not just a few. An review of the State Park
plan has been approved. This plan is supported by a large coalition
of environmental groups.
We taxpayers have been subsidizing the El Morro residents and have
been prevented using this land for years. Now the residents want to
extend their favored status for another 30 years by bribing
environmental groups and the state park system and proposing
additional “politically correct” uses for land that they don’t own.
If I lived there I would want to stay too, but enough is enough!
The state park plan will vastly improve the environment and allow the
park to be used and enjoyed as intended.
I urge the Laguna Beach City Council to support the state park
plan and reject the El Morro Village Community Assn. plan.
RICK WILSON
Aliso Viejo
Chairman,
Laguna Beach Chapter
Surfrider Foundation
The most recent plan of El Morro Village, Inc. to replace the
State Parks Department’s publicly conceived campground at Crystal
Cove State Park is just another desperate scheme of real estate
gamblers to extend the state’s more than generous “relocation
benefit” beyond its Dec. 31, 2004 termination.
Both trailer park management and current occupants of individual
mobile sites now seek a whopping 30-year extensions of the state
parks 1979 benefit for the short remainders they purchased from
earlier tenants vacating before the Dec. 31, 1999 deadline. The
additional five years extending their stay to Dec. 31, 2004 seems to have inspired no gratitude, but accelerated efforts to defeat Parks
Department completed, funded plans.
Trailer residents whose children attend El Morro School have
raised the specter of campers as molesters with their PTA and the
deleterious effects of distant barbecue smoke on the kiddies lungs to
prevent public camping. The state Parks Department has made major,
expensive changes to campsites accommodating these concerns.
Consultants for El Morro tenants have approached local advocates
for much needed “low-cost housing” with offers to provide units at an
unspecified location within Crystal Cove State Park, but not within
“El Morro Village, Inc.” This “community” must remain inviolate for
its revenue production and charitable donations?
To their credit, “low-cost housing” leaders in Laguna Beach,
Laguna Greenbelt President, Liz Brown, and California State Parks
Foundation President, Susan Smartt have soundly rejected this latest,
“wildest yet” proposal. Parks Supt., Mike Tope, deserves the full
support of the general public for his accommodation of legitimate
concerns and infinite patience in moving forward the public planning
process for long-overdue camping facilities in our ocean front state
park.
ED MERRILEES
Laguna Beach
None of the leases for the present mobile homes should be extended
and the plans developed for the El Moro camp site by the state park
personnel should be implemented. We do not believe that state park
property should be used for the development of low income housing.
DALE AND MARILYN GHERE
Laguna Beach
Say no way to another grand prix
I believe the Rotary Club Grand Prix is a nuisance to a village
laid out as ours is. It blocks passage to businesses and many other
locations.
Following the last grand prix, there were numerous letters from
out-of-town people approving the race. There were several letters by
locals. The vast majority of letters to our newspapers were
approving. Certainly. They would like to continue it here and not in
their towns. The disproportion of out-of-town letters could well have
been pre-arranged!
Please do not allow disturbances to continue. Certainly not in the
pattern of the last event.
KENNETH WOOD
Laguna Beach
A big ploy may work for Laguna too
There was a story in the Los Angeles Times the other day about
this small town that was thinking of building a giant lava lamp to
attract visitors. It made me think of a ploy of a similar nature to
lure visitors to our museum and or galleries.
Since bigness has always been a good bait for the American, why
not advertise -- say, “the biggest Persian miniature in the world.”
If necessary, I will volunteer to paint it. Can’t miss.
HARRY HARRISON
Laguna Beach
Care must be taken in canyon project
At its November general meeting, Village Laguna had the
opportunity to examine a development proposal for the property
adjacent to the Art-A-Fair and the city employees’ parking lot in
Laguna Canyon.
The property owner, Rick Hubbell, described a development that he
is calling Artists’ Walk -- a mixed commercial-residential use for
the property including 19,000 square feet of high-end retail space,
two restaurants and 19 artists’ live-work units of 1,500 square feet
each, underpinned by a 200-car parking structure.
Village Laguna members welcomed the residential component of the
project, but worried that units as large as those proposed would
probably not be affordable. They also questioned the need for
additional retail space in a town already dotted with empty
storefronts and expressed concerns about the density of the
development and the architectural style of the complex, which seemed
formulaic rather than genuinely belonging to Laguna Beach.
The sense of the meeting was that the project might better meet
both the community’s needs and those of the developer if it were to
focus on small artists’ live-work units rather than high-end
commercial uses, accept the physical constraints imposed by the
topography of the site, thus avoiding the massive grading that the
current proposal would require, and adopt a style that reflects the
individualistic, low-key, informal character of the historical
architecture of Laguna Canyon.
We hope that the project will see changes along these lines as it
moves through the planning process.
BARBARA METZGER
Secretary, Village Laguna
War is coming regardless of rallies
Niko Theris and I may not agree on most things, but in opposing
this war fever; we agree.
I am an “America Firster” conservative and haven’t yet seen the
connection between what happened in September 2001 and Iraq. In fact,
seems to me we should have invaded Saudi Arabia by now if 9/11 was
our reason for war.
But Theris and I differ with regards the herds of “sheeple” who
drove past his demonstration on the Coast Highway uninterested. It
matters not which way the mob votes, if it had been Gore or the
“unsafe at any speed” guy -- wouldn’t matter. Despite public
sentiment and the coffee clatch at the United Nations, we would still
today be headlong to war.
Unseen hands are at work here, Theris, we don’t get to vote on it!
MATT SMITH
Laguna Beach
Demonstrators display ignorance
In response to your articles concerning the anti-war protesters at
Laguna Beach, Jan. 18, 2003, [“Veterans of Peace” Coastline Pilot,
Jan 24.] I feel it necessary to speak out in defense of President
Bush’s policies concerning the United Nations and Iraq. Your articles
seem to be so one-sided that I feel balanced reporting these days is
meaningless. In some heated discussions with these protesters, I came
away with a feeling that most of them were either uninformed or very
ill-informed.
To ask some of them the following questions:
* How many people were killed in the Sept. 11 Word Trade Center
massacre?
* What had they read in that morning’s L.A. Times (far removed
from a moderate or conservative publication), concerning Secretary of
State’s Colin Powell remarks about proof of Baghdad’s lying?
* Did they think they were jeopardizing our military men and
women in uniform by these protests?
* Were they willing to fight in a war to protect this country’s
freedom and preserve its sovereignty?
* Were we justified in fighting (still fighting) the Afghanistan
war, to rid the country of the oppressive Taliban?
* What kind of commitment were they ready to make if our shores
were invaded (militarily or with bio-chemical warfare)?
* Where is the American flag at these demonstrations?
* What do you think the “peace sign” means?
* Why isn’t there more horn-blowing signaling support for your
efforts?
I was met with blank stares, or inane remarks, or invectives aimed
at President Bush.
Some responses included the following:
* “I don’t care what happened on 9/11. That was in the past.”
* “President Bush was AWOL in his service days and does not have
a high I.Q.”
* “We don’t raise the American flag at these rallies because it
might give you the impression that we support President Bush.”
* “The Afghan leaders are still in turmoil and people are
starving.”
* “Please move away from my sign.”
If this is the extent of dissension in these groups, then we have
lost a great deal in the current forming of opinion in America and
that depresses me.
It is fruitless to debate ignorance.
Yes, I was one of the two men exercising their right to challenge
their views as discussed in your column, Dennis Piszkiewicz.
Believe me, I do not condone war as a solution in the issue of
Iraq, but neither do I shrink from standing up to a war criminal,
such as Saddam (remember he lost the 1991 Gulf War)! As far as not
being there in droves to protest the anti-war advocates, I feel that
I am well represented (greater than 60%) by President Bush and the
marvelous staff he has assembled (Colin Powell, Condoleeza Rice,
Donald Rumsfeld, Karen Hughes, Karl Rove, John Ashcroft, etc.).
Another question:
Why is it only on Saturday that the rallies exist? We have a great
country, state and city to protest in, but does it have to be only on
glorious sunny days! How far from reality can you get??
EUGENE LEO
Laguna Niguel
Water company responds to letter
Having received a response from the water company to my letter
published in this paper on Jan. 17, “Take responsibility for water
usage,” I went back into my file of published and other letters on
water written before the company became part of the city and seems to
have been filled with a new list of “officers” under their logo.
The important thing is that they “will be stepping up (their)
efforts and are planning a variety of focused campaigns to get the
water conservation message out to all customers on a regular basis.”
Now that is good new because it will take such actions to raise the
community consciousness to begin to achieve a conservation effect.
The wasters may be a difficult group to reach as old habits are
hard to break and represent individual expression. On the other hand,
people like myself are radical and go to extremes. For me to teach
how I conserve would take a guided tour around the property and in my
home to demonstrate and communicate my methods. Mark Chamberlain
pointed out to me that those who have ever lived on a boat may have
by necessity already discovered some themselves.
Because water scarcity may become a major crisis in California,
major conservation efforts must take place not only around the home
but especially in agricultural areas where water is used most
extravagantly and in parks and public places as well.
For years I have advocated the on-site retention of runoff. One of
the ways to accomplish this is the use of cisterns. The methods are
as old as civilization and can be created in homes and elsewhere.
Also, it must start with land use planning so that properties are
terraces and roof runoff retained as well.
Laguna Lakes became a natural place to retain runoff and prevent
flooding, but they should be enlarged now that a new and wider Laguna
Canyon Road is being made.
When and if water really does become scarce, the water company can
always do what they did in the earl days and send a red, brackish
substance through the pipes which can be obtained under ground.
Perhaps then people will shape up really fast.
ANDY WING
Laguna Beach
Driftwood Estates no good for Laguna
The proposed Driftwood Estates subdivision is a project that the
Laguna Beach City Council should disapprove based on the safety
issues involved and the diminished quality of life it would produce
for all Lagunans, particularly for the citizens in the immediate
neighborhoods.
The main entrance to the proposed development is at the north end
of Driftwood Drive, a very narrow, 26-foot wide street having no
sidewalks. Cars are usually parked on both sides of the street due to
the many short driveways. The school bus travels on Driftwood to pick
up children in the neighborhood. All pedestrians, including children,
must walk in the street. Added traffic from the proposed development
will only increase the existing hazard.
Recently, I met a car on Driftwood and had to back up a
considerable distance before being able to pull to the curb and allow
the oncoming car to pass. On another occasion, while driving on
Driftwood Drive, I found myself behind our local refuse truck. With
no way to pass, I had to wait while the truck emptied each can on the
street. Who would ever approve a new subdivision at the end of this
narrow, congested street?
A proposed emergency access to the project is through a narrow
easement, between two existing homes, connecting to Ocean Vista
Drive. Because of the problems noted above, some proponents are now
talking about making this a full-fledged access road. Such a plan
would create a very dangerous intersection for the following reasons:
This would be a blind intersection because the level of the access
road would be considerably below developed property on each side of
the proposed road. Vehicles traveling from the project wouldn’t be
visible to traffic on Ocean Vista Drive until right at the
intersection. Also, the proposed intersection would be too close to
the crest of Ocean Vista Drive. Drivers traveling in a northerly
direction on Ocean Vista would be unable to see the proposed
intersection until it’s too late. Calculations show that cars
traveling above 25 mph would have difficulty stopping before the
intersection, particularly in wet weather.
The City Council must consider, above all else, the safety of the
residents of Laguna Beach. This project will benefit only the
developer, who stands to make a considerable profit. The residents of
Laguna Beach would be the losers as they see their quality of life
diminished by the increased hazards, traffic congestion and loss of
open space. The City Council should reject this project and act in
behalf of all the citizens of our city. How refreshing that would be.
RICHARD BABCOCK
Laguna Beach
My husband and I live on Ocean Vista Drive and have been working
to stop the proposed Driftwood Estates Development for more than a
year.
We attended the City Council meeting on Jan. 14, at which I was
one of the many that spoke against the project. One of those many
that spoke was Sally Wilde. She lives in the Diamond / Crestview
neighborhood where there has been an ongoing development being built
for the past eight years. This is a much smaller development than the
proposed Driftwood Estates. She told the City Council of the
nightmare that she has lived and will continue to live through for
who knows how much longer and begged the City Council to not put our
neighborhood (that surrounding the proposed Driftwood Estates)
through the same hell.
My husband and I had heard of this development before but had
never driven up there to see the Diamond / Crestview area for
ourselves. We drove up there last week and now know what we had only
imagined before -- what our neighborhood will be put through if the
Driftwood Estates are approved.
I invite other residents of Laguna Beach to drive up Crestview
(turn right off Diamond and go to the dead end of Crestview) and see
for themselves what those neighbors have had to put up with. It is
still awful but you can imagine how much worse it was when the big
grading tractors, dirt hauler trucks and the lumber and all the other
supplies needed to build multiple homes were traveling up and down
that narrow steep road. Then ask yourself if you would want this in
your neighborhood. It could happen to you, as there are many large
undeveloped pieces of property in Laguna Beach.
The City Council will be setting a precedent if they OK the
Driftwood Estates, as this is not already individual lots but one
piece of property that would be subdivided into 15 large lots. These
lots are proposed to sell for upwards of a million dollars to build
custom homes on. What size homes do you think that a person paying
that kind of money will build. I think not Beach Bungalows. I thought
that our city wanted to stop mansionization.
Please residents of Laguna Beach, don’t let this kind of project
set the precedent of things to come.
DON AND SHARRY JONES
Laguna Beach
Help! Calling all Lagunatics. We need your vote to keep Laguna
free of people who want to “clean up the mess.”
Open space is not a mess [Morris] Skenderian. I love it just the
way it is. I am using the word love here.
I love the way the ridgeline looks from Coast Highway when I drive
north or south.
I love the way it looks from the top of the ridge when I look
down.
I love this back yard, this beautiful open space.
“Clean up the mess” is a direct quote in Morris Skenderian’s open
statements Tuesday, Jan. 14 when trying to sell a subdivision of 15
lots to the City Council.
I feel the town I grew up and played in needs to come together on
this and just say no. We’re saying no here in our own back yard.
STEPHEN SMITH
Laguna Beach
The new provisions in the Design Review ordinance call for a
rendering -- photographic, digital or otherwise -- of the elevations
of three existing homes on either side of a proposed project or
changes of 50% or more on existing structures and for certification
that all neighbors within a 300-foot radius have been notified by the
applicant or architect to review the proposed project.
Bad idea for the following reason:
1. Board members, even though they are required to visit each
application site, may not do so for convenience reasons knowing
beforehand that they will be viewing the immediate neighborhood on
paper. Therefore they would not familiarize themselves with the
actual conditions, style, scale and flavor of the neighborhood.
2. Designers, graphic illustrators and artists can easily do a
snow job on the unsuspecting and possibly poorly informed board
members by producing fantastic renderings of the “neighborhood.”
3. It seems that the requirement by the owner or design
professional to notify homeowners within a 300-foot radius may stir
up neighbors who are not all affected by the proposed project. They
will receive notices from the city anyway. Is it the council’s
intentions to prolong the design review process and add an enormous
cost to all involved? Has the council considered the applicants’ and
design professionals’ animosity and hostility engendered by these new
rules?
The Design Review Board should be encouraged to say no to
unacceptable projects and be supported by the City Council. There
should be no fear of a lawsuit. Perhaps the lawsuit adverse policy
has made the city too timid to enforce the rules we already have.
PETER WEISBROD
Landscape architect
Laguna Beach
The South Laguna Civic Assn. is very concerned about the proposed
Driftwood subdivision.
One important issue has been resolved in the process to date,
namely the commitment to dedicate the entire remaining area of 218
acres for open space. We emphatically support and recommend this
dedication.
However there are many unresolved and very important issues.
Following are our recommendations regarding some of these issues:
Construction impacts are significant and potentially devastating
to the surrounding neighbors. These concerns must be addressed in the
form of specific conditions, bonding and penalties for
non-performance. We suggest that the council instruct staff to
develop a list of such conditions that address all of the
neighborhood concerns.
Preservation of the southern maritime chaparral and the
crownbeard. The site visit reinforced our concern with grading of the
slopes and fuel modification above the existing homes. We recommend
that the council require that the plans be changed to eliminate
grading of these slopes and require preservation of the vegetation on
them. There appears to be ample room to site houses on the pads
without changing the grading of these existing slopes.
Building size and visual impacts. Specific commitments regarding
building size, building envelopes and architectural character need to
be wrapped into this project approval, probably in the form of a
Specific Plan and CC & Rs.
The Driftwood development should be required no less than what was
required by the county or city of Laguna Niguel, or what our own city
required at Treasure Island -- which is the submission of proposed
building envelopes for evaluation. The long term affects of this
development on the views from Coast Highway and from the
neighborhood, and on the scale and character of the neighborhood are
very significant, especially if no over-all limits are proposed at
the time of tract approval.
The project proponents should show where structures will be
allowed on the lots, what the maximum building envelopes will be,
what the maximum building site coverage and floor area will be and
then do visual simulations showing what the impact will be as viewed
from a number of important view points.
The size limits on the buildings should correspond to the existing
sizes of homes in the neighborhood.
Residents have rightly expressed concern that an approval of this
subdivision without such constraints condemns them to years of Design
Review meetings as houses are reviewed one by one. Design Review
alone has historically been unable to control the overall size of
homes in new tracts without an overall plan restricting size.
Now is the time to control mansionization in this area, not
individually at Design Review meetings.
BILL RIHN
Board member of the
South Laguna Civic Assn.
The Coastline Pilot is eager to run your letters. If your letter
does not appear it may be due to space restrictions and will likely
appear next week. If you would like to submit a letter, write to us
at P.O. Box 248 Laguna Beach CA 92652, fax us at 494-8979 or send
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