Council seeks Act V compromise

Barbara Diamond

The City Council spent about 45 minutes to compromise on procedures

for a council subcommittee appointed to pursue a compromise location

for the city maintenance yard.

“There is a huge philosophical difference on the relocation and I

know council members Toni Iseman and Elizabeth Pearson have been

talking,” said Mayor Cheryl Kinsman. “I probably wouldn’t agree with

either, but I think they should become a formal subcommittee.”

The council voted unanimously to hold a public workshop at 10

a.m., Nov. 20, and appointed Iseman and Pearson to work out the

details and to work with StudioOneEleven, the firm that won the

Village Entrance Design Contest.

“I want a public hearing,” Pearson said. “I am tired of hearing

that the public needs to be heard. Let’s get it on the table. Toni

and I have had some very constructive conversations.”

Pearson, who served on the Village Entrance Task Force as a

Planning Commissioner, through months of meetings, supports the

relocation. Iseman, who first ran for council partially because she

opposed the relocation to Act V has not changed her position since

being elected, although the council has flip-flopped a couple of

times.

The Laguna Canyon Conservancy had requested a council-sponsored

workshop before the next California Coastal Commission hearing. The

commission must approve the relocation project.

“This is a very divisive issue,” conservancy President Carolyn

Wood said. “It is exacerbated by the lack of communication on either

side. A workshop would be an opportunity to see if any possibility

for compromise exists.

Iseman said the city manager’s participation is essential to any

compromise.

“There is so much confusion about the issues and misunderstood

details,” architect Kimberly Stuart said. “This is a great

opportunity for everyone to understand the issues.

“Open discussion can only benefit the community and bring us back

together.”

Former Planning Commissioner Becky Jones said there are answers

out there that would let the city have it peripheral parking at Act V

and a Village Entrance.

“I think we can find them,” Jones said.