Diamond Street parking woes continue

Residents in the 200 block of Diamond Street asked the City Council

on Tuesday to do something about the construction crews that have

been congregating outside their homes before 7 a.m. for the last 10

months.

Construction crews aren’t allowed to begin working before 7 a.m.

in Laguna Beach, and the 300 block of Diamond Street has a variance

that doesn’t allow the trucks to park there before work can begin.

Residents in the 200 block said the workers have simply moved down

the street to do their waiting, being noisy and disrupting the area

as early as 5:30 a.m.

“In the last 10 months, we’ve had the peace and tranquillity in

our neighborhood taken away from us,” Ron Gill said. “They use foul

language, they leave their 10-wheel trucks running, polluting our

neighborhood and blocking our driveways.”

Gill presented the council with a petition signed by his neighbors

asking that their block be added to the plan that doesn’t allow

trucks to park in front of their homes in the morning.

Traffic Sgt. Jason Kravetz said he wouldn’t have a problem adding

the 200 block to the Diamond/Crestview restricted parking plan, but

suspected the workers would just find another street.

“The concern is that this problem will be displaced somewhere

else,” Kravetz said. “Signage would also have to be added on Diamond,

and they aren’t the most attractive signs, and enforcement’s

difficult because different people are working down there every day.”

City Manager Ken Frank said he and city staff would look at the

neighbors’ petition, listen to their concerns and report some options

back to the council.

“We’re merely asking that someone offer another alternative to

these trucks parking in front of our homes,” Gill said.

-- Mike Swanson

Playhouse gets new lease on theater life

The City Council unanimously approved a 40-year extension of the

Laguna Playhouse’s lease of the Moulton Theatre at its Tuesday

meeting.

The lease expired June 30, 2000, but at the request of the

council, the Playhouse delayed negotiations until summer 2003. The

Moulton Theatre, which opened in 1969, was built with private funds

raised by the Laguna Playhouse on land obtained by the city from the

Irvine Co.

Under the terms of its lease, the Laguna Playhouse pays the city

$8,500 per year, adjusted annually for inflation. The Playhouse bears

all costs of operating and maintaining the facility, which is

comprised of two parcels -- the theater and the parking lot.

According to the terms of the lease, use of the parking lot is

ceded to the Festival of Arts during the summer for cast members of

the Pageant of the Masters. The new lease will expire June 30, 2043.

The Moulton Theatre is at 606 Laguna Canyon Road.

Analyst to discuss the ongoing conflict in Iraq

The Laguna Beach Peace Vigil will sponsor a discussion led by an

independent Iraqi analyst at 7 p.m. Wednesday at the Neighborhood

Congregational Church.

The discussion will focus on the history of the United States’

conflict with Iraq. Mark Gery, a member of the Education for Peace in

Iraq Center in Washington, D.C., will facilitate discussion.

Gery is writing a book called “Desert Nightmare: America’s

Historic Conflict with Saddam Hussein’s Iraq.”

The Neighborhood Congregational Church is at 340 St. Ann’s Drive.

For more information, call (949) 499-3190.

Change battery along with clocks

Don’t forget to change your clocks, and the Fire Department

suggests that while you’re at it change the battery in your smoke

alarm.

The early notification of the sounding alarm gives you the time to

escape, since smoke alarms can cut your risk of dying in a home fire

nearly in half. A typical living-room fire can threaten the entire

house in just a few minutes, producing life-threatening conditions

throughout the house in less than two minutes after the alarm sounds.

Smoke alarms should be cleaned at least once a year, tested

monthly and batteries should never be “borrowed” to use someplace

else.

The Fire Department suggests that you change your battery twice a

year. A great time to change your battery is when you set your clock

back in the fall and again when you set it forward in the spring.

This year, daylight-savings time ends on Sunday, and clocks will

be set back on that day at 2 a.m.

For more information on Fire Safety or Emergency Preparedness,

contact (949) 497-0700.

Calvary Church hosting festival on Halloween

Calvary Evangelical Free Church will host a Halloween “Ball” at

Fellowship Hall.

There will be a Harvest Festival with refreshments, a square dance

exhibition and dancing.

The event for all ages will begin at 5 p.m. Oct. 31. The

exhibition will begin at 6 p.m. Fellowship Hall is at 486 Legion St.

For more information, call (949) 494-6191.

Festival of Arts board candidates to speak

Village Laguna will host an event for candidates of the Festival

of Arts Board of Directors to speak.

The membership meeting will be at 7 p.m. Monday in the Wells Fargo

Community Room, 260 Ocean Ave.

The seven candidates vying for three open seats are Paul Goldie,

Richard Hawthorne, Anita Mangels, John Hoover, Bruce Rasner, Carolyn

Reynolds and David Young. They will be asked to share their

philosophies and visions for the future of the festival.

The public is invited, and refreshments will be served. For more

information, call (949) 499-4809.