Zoning administrator moving on to Dana Point

BARBARA DIAMOND

Dana Point has hired away another longtime city employee.

John Tilton’s new job as city architect will reunite him with his

close friend Kyle Butterwick, former director of the Laguna’s

Community Development Department, now serving in the same capacity in

Dana Point.

Tilton began working as Laguna’s zoning administrator in March of

1997.

“Everybody who has ever worked for him loved him,” said Martha

Anderson, who spent three years in the zoning department before

switching to the city clerk’s office.

Tilton expressed sorrow when Butterwick accepted a position with

Dana Point after working at City Hall since 1979.

They met in 1985 when Tilton was a practicing architect with a

particularly controversial project and Butterwick guided him through

the city processes. They share a love of boating -- guy trips to

Catalina -- and tennis, competing in tournaments and highly

competitive weekend matches.

Tilton and his wife, Jill, and two children lived in Laguna Beach

until last year when they moved to San Juan Capistrano.

A farewell reception was scheduled for Thursday at City Hall.

HALL MONITOR

Senior Planner Liane Schuller is serving as interim zoning

administrator until a permanent replacement for Tilton is hired. The

city will hold an in-house recruitment to fill Tilton’s former job

and for the planning administrator’s position in the Community

Development Department. The planning job has been vacant since John

Montgomery took over for Kyle Butterwick as head honcho of the

department. The position has been stripped of the assistant

director’s title.

Building plan checker Issam Shahrouri has completed his course

work and dissertation for a doctorate in economics from UC Irvine. He

used spatial econometrics to study the property tax structure in

Orange County and the change in property values due to the

expectation of large projects such as toll roads or airports.

City employee John O’Hara, who supervises maintenance in Downtown

Laguna Beach and Main Beach, has been certified by the International

Society of Arborculture. O’Hara, who has worked for the city for 23

years, is the first and, to date, the only arborist on the city

staff.

The city has had to seek the services of a consultant when the

City Council or Design Review Board members have asked for the

services of arborist on-site for projects that threaten trees that

the board feels should be saved. Board approval of the additions to a

home at Camel Point included such a request.

“It was a special tree and it’s gone,” board chair Steve

Kawaratani, a Coastline Pilot columnist, said at the March 4 board

meeting. “I am disappointed.”

The property owner claimed he loved the tree and tried to save it.

“I checked on that tree, and it hadn’t even been watered,”

Kawaratani said.

The tree is being replaced by a 20-foot high and 12-foot wide

stone pine.

“That’s about 100th the size of the original tree,” Kawaratani

said.

Board member Suzanne Morrison also expressed concerns about the

condition of two Monterey Cypress on the site.

Kawaratani, whose request for an arborist on-site in a project in

Sarah Thurston Park was also ignored, wants the Camel Point site

monitored twice a month and deviations from board advice reported.

“This was the third time I requested special care for trees [on a

development site]. In future, the board will ask for a bond.”

The Open Space Committee is wrestling with alternatives for a

pedestrian trail near a new house on Mar Vista, so large Councilman

Wayne Baglin referred to it a neighborhood in itself when the council

approved the project.

A trail proposal is due back before the council on April 20.

JOAN BENFORD MEMORIAL

A sculpture at the Laguna Beach Library will be dedicated to the

memory of the late Joan Benford at 3 p.m. Saturday.

Sculptor Marlo Bartels’ “Sakura Starburst” was purchased by

Friends of Joan Benford and the Community Art Project.

“It grew out of desire of her children, Mark and Alyson, and her

friends to do something to remember Joan,” said former Planning

Commissioner Becky Jones, a close friend of Benford.

Bartels and Supervisor Tom Wilson will attend the dedication.

The sculpture was originally displayed under the auspices of

Community Art Project at the Bank of America parking lot.

CAP’s goals are to increase the visibility and aesthetic value of

public art and its ability to enhance our community, to serve as a

catalyst to encourage art education in town and to help guide public

and private partnerships through the approval process.

FOA ONLINE

The Festival of Arts has launched a Gift Shop, open 24-hours a day

to online shoppers.

“[It] is the answer for art lovers,” said Sharbie Higuchi, veteran

director of marketing and public relations for the festival. “Our

streamlined checkout process, combined with online specials, saves

collectors money, as well as time.”

Surfing the shop takes online shoppers from posters to wine

glasses, from art aprons to scarves, puzzles, books, bookmarks, paint

sets, mugs, T-shirts, caps, collectibles and Pageant of the Masters

souvenirs, with sub-sections for men, women, children, home,

collectibles and posters.

Pageant tickets have been available online for more than five

years. Sales have quadrupled.

“According to the Nielsen/Net ratings, online consumer spending is

up 34 percent from 2003,” Higuchi said. “With this rapid rise in

e-spending and the doubling of souvenir items purchased by Festival

of Art and pageant patrons in the summer, launching an online gift

shop was the next logical step.”

Visit https://www.lagunafestivalof

arts.com to check out the merchandise. Proceeds will help pay for

operating costs.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY

Friends of Evelyn Munro will gather Saturday to celebrate her 90th

birthday.

Munro was born March 15, 1914, in New Orleans.

Always tiny, Munro took on the big issues from unions to the

environment. She was named a Laguna Treasure in 2002.

* OUR LAGUNA is a regular feature of the Laguna Beach Coastline

Pilot. Contributions are welcomed. Write to Barbara Diamond, P.O. Box

248, Laguna Beach, 92652, hand-deliver to 384 Forest Ave., Suite 22;

call (949) 494-4321 or fax (949) 494-8979.