Surf and Sand sent packing

The City Council voted Tuesday that the Surf and Sand needs to apply

for a permit before it can park customers’ vehicles at the Pottery

Shack.

Councilman Wayne Baglin appealed an administrative decision that

permitted the valet parking by hotel staff. It was referred to the

Planning Commission, which hears permit applications.

The commission also was directed to review the city code for

clarification of valet parking. Staff members were directed to stop

valet parking for hotel customers at the Pottery Shack until and if a

permit is issued.

Mayor Cheryl Kinsman’s motion, approved 4-0 -- Councilman Steve

Dicterow was absent -- did not include hotel staff parking, raising

Baglin’s hackle. He demanded to be notified if the hotel is permitted

to park employees’ vehicles without obtaining a permit.

“We know there is a parking problem,” Pottery Shack neighbor Rik

Lawrence said. “This is not the answer. The [administrative] decision

must be reversed.”

Council members struggled with Baglin’s appeal, which reduced

off-street parking in the neighborhood.

The residents’ complaints might not bode well for neighborhood

pocket parking, supported by council members Toni Iseman and

Elizabeth Pearson.

“If we don’t have valet parking, customers will park in the

neighborhoods,” hotel spokesman John Gates said.

Public parking is permitted on public streets unless specifically

prohibited.

However, residents, who call themselves Flatlanders, bitterly

resent public use they claim usurps all of their neighborhood

parking.

“I know where they parked before [leasing the Pottery Shack] -- on

the street in front of my house,” Annette Stephens said. “When they

lose the lot, I know where they will be -- in front of my house.”

Many of the businesses in the area have little or no parking

facilities. They were grandfathered in when the city’s parking

requirements were codified.

The goal of grandfathering was to ensure that businesses would not

be forced out by the rules that were later approved. Once a property

is grandfathered, it is virtually impossible to un-grandfather it,

Pearson said.

Businesses without sufficient parking to meet their needs --

grandfathered or not -- have resorted to off-site parking, valeted in

some cases.

A recent Planning Commission recommendation, not yet reviewed by

the council, requires a conditional-use permit for all off-site

parking, which must be approved by the council. The permits are good

only for the length of the lease of the off-site parking, renewable

when the lease is renewed.

-- Barbara Diamond

Longtime Laguna

resident honored

City officials honored longtime Laguna Beach resident and

businessman Harry Lawrence Tuesday night with a proclamation

extolling his contributions to the community.

Lawrence will be 90 on Oct. 1. He has spent more than half of his

life in Laguna, starting in 1946 when he bought a one-room gift shop,

called Warren Imports, now an internationally known store catering to

buyers of jewelry and Asian art and furniture.

He had been in Laguna only a couple of years when he began an

illustrious career in community service that ranges from helping to

reactivate the Post World War II Laguna Beach Chamber of Commerce to

bringing Grand Opera to Orange County, performed on the Festival of

Arts grounds.

Many consider his efforts to acquire Main Beach for a city park as

his crowning achievement.

The City Council on Tuesday approved a request from his friends

and relatives to buy and install a bench with a plaque in his honor

at Main Beach.

A dedication ceremony will be held when the bench is installed.

-- Barbara Diamond

Come on down and meet the mayor

Mayor Cheryl Kinsman will continue her “Mondays with the Mayor”

meetings this month.

An informal meeting will be scheduled between 2 and 4 p.m. on

Monday. The meetings are an opportunity for Lagunans to meet and

discuss matters of interest with Kinsman.

Appointments can be made by calling Carol Bright at (949)

497-0308.

Come on down and meet the candidates

The Laguna Beach Election Festival will be an unprecedented

opportunity for Lagunans to meet candidates and learn about current

issues.

All candidates running for city offices and the Laguna Beach

Unified School District Board are scheduled to attend. Candidates

running for U.S. Senate, the 48th Congressional District, the 70th

State Assembly District and Municipal Water District of Orange County

are also expected to show up. Guests will be able to ask candidates

questions at public forums. Proponents and opponents of ballot

propositions will also be on hand to answer questions.

For entertainment, there will be performances by the Laguna

Community Concert Band and Native American flute musician Evran Ozan.

The free event will be held from noon to 4 p.m. on Oct. 2, at

Laguna Beach High School, 625 Park Ave. Information: (949) 494-9928.

A little help from your financing friends

Certified Financial Planner and Laguna Beach resident Laura Tarbox

will discuss financial planning at sessions of the “It’s Your Money”

workshop series.

The first seminars will be from 10 to 11:30 a.m. on Sept. 24 and

Oct. 1 at the Assistance League Center, 547 Catalina St. For

reservations and information, call the Laguna Canyon Foundation,

(949) 497-8324.

Remarkable woman honored for work

Entrepreneur Valinda Martin, who owns the Art for the Soul gallery

on Forest Avenue, is set to be one of five honorees recognized at the

ninth annual Remarkable Women Awards Luncheon in October. The

ceremony will be presented by the National Assn. of Women Business

Owners’ Orange County chapter.

Martin, who lives in Corona del Mar, has needed a wheelchair since

she broke her back in a boating accident 11 years ago. After her

injury, she had to leave her job before starting her own business.

“I’m confined to a wheelchair, and I pretend I’m not in it and

keep on trucking,” she said.

Martin was a sales representative selling women’s clothing before

her injury. She got the idea to open a gallery after she was hurt

when she started collecting unusual items while traveling, she said.

She opened her first gallery on Balboa Island about six years ago and

expanded to Laguna Beach in the past year. Her galleries feature a

varied collection of whimsical, often brightly colored creations.

Despite her injury, Martin said being able to own her own business

and live along the Orange County coast makes her feel more privileged

than most.

“I love what I do, and I say that’s why I’m luckier and more

blessed than a lot of other people,” she said.