PUBLIC COMMUNICATIONS Roger von Butow announced the...

PUBLIC COMMUNICATIONS

Roger von Butow announced the first Adopt-a-Beach cleanup of the

year.

The “First Flush” cleanup will be held from 9 a.m. to noon

Saturday at Main Beach.

For more information, call von Butow at (949) 497-4816 or Rick

Wilson at (949) 492-8170.

Entre-Manure, the company that collects pet waste for the city,

reported a decline in total pounds collected at the Bark Park, Top of

the World, Dartmoor Street, Laguna Canyon, Riddle Field and Moulton

Meadows.

The company collected 351 1/2 pounds this year, compared to 384

pounds in 2003 and 534 pounds in 2002, the first year it was

contracted.

Eleanor Henry asked council members who have accepted campaign

donations from Athens Group to recuse themselves from voting on any

expansion of the golf course at Aliso Creek Inn into parkland.

COUNCIL/STAFF COMMUNICATIONS

Council members Toni Iseman and Steven Dicterow met Monday with

representatives of Montage Hotel and Spa to discuss the city’s role

in rumored projects.

Iseman and Dicterow were appointed by the council as a

sub-committee to work with Montage and Athens Group, after there were

published reports -- though not confirmed by the hotel developers or

owners -- of possible projects discussed in closed meetings with the

county about real estate holdings in South Laguna.

The sub-committee meeting was not open to the public.

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COMMITTEE OPENINGS

The City Council will interview applicants for seats on city

committees at the Feb. 15 meeting.

Feb. 8 is the deadline to submit applications for the three

openings each on the Heritage Open Space, Parking Traffic and

Circulation and Telecommunications committees and four openings on

the Housing & Human Affairs committees.

WHAT IT MEANS

Serving on committees is a way to participate in city government

and a good education on how much time and energy is required.

SMOKING BAN

The City Council approved the purchase of 50 ash urns to be

installed and maintained at beach access points and “No Smoking” to

be added to signs already in place.

The total cost will be $15,000, $13,000 of it for the urns.

WHAT IT MEANS

The urns, which are actually a removable tubes inside concrete

stanchions with a tiny hole in a soup-can-shaped top, required a

demonstration to understand how they operate. Smokers, who are

inclined to just toss their butts on the ground, may not take the

time to figure out how the urns will work.

CURB RESTRICTIONS

The City Council voted unanimously to amend the city code to

change the time limit for green zones from 20 minutes to 30 minutes

and to add blue zones for disabled parking to the municipal code.

WHAT IT MEANS

The changes bring the code into agreement with what was already

being practiced.

HOUSE TAKEN OFF

HISTORIC REGISTER

The council voted unanimously to remove a house from the city’s

Historic Register.

A proposed new addition that almost doubled the size of the

residence was a concern to the Heritage Committee, which recommended

that the property owner ask the city to take the house off the

register and reimburse the city for the waived fees.

WHAT IT MEANS

Restitution of fees can be made, and garage space that was usurped

for living space that leaves a property under-parked may be regained

for vehicles, but foundations and rooms are not easily removed from

setbacks.

The council directed the Heritage Committee and the Planning

Commission to consider the process for removing a home from the

register, which the city cannot under the present ordinance enforce

without the property owners permission.

OPEN SPACE

COMMITTEE REVISED

The council voted unanimously to expand the horizon of the Open

Space Committee, henceforth to be called the Environmental Committee

with an increase to seven members.

“This does not mean a decrease in the importance of open space,”

Dicterow said. “But we need to look at things like pollution.”

Dicterow said the city was active in improving water quality, but

had no official body on issue.

WHAT IT MEANS

Open Space was removed from the list of committees which are to

have members appointed at the Feb. 8 meeting.

Dicterow and Councilwoman Jane Egly will meet with the Open Space

Committee and report back to the council with recommendations for the

structure of the expanded committee.

APPEALS

The council denied, by a 3-2 vote, an appeal of an administrative

decision that eight lots on Baja Street were a not legal building

site. Neighbors opposed legalizing the lots. Kinsman and Mayor

Elizabeth Pearson-Schneider voted against the denial.

WHAT IT MEANS

The property owners will not be able to build a home based on the

entire square footage of the contiguous nine lots they own, one of

which is a 25 by 100 foot, legal building site, unless the lots are

combined. The Design Review Board majority indicated at a concept

hearing that they did not favor a lot combination.

A 4-1 council majority denied the appeal of a property owner who

wanted to build a new 2,690 square-foot home at 382 Ledroit St. on a

lot with a water course. Neighbors opposed the construction based on

size and privacy issues.

The project was denied 3-2 by the Design Review Board after three

meetings.

“This is the most egregious invasion of privacy I have seen,”

Iseman said. “I am surprised it got any [DRB] votes. The top floor

has to go.”

Pearson-Schneider voted against the denial because the council had

previously told the applicant to move the house out of the

watercourse on the property, which limited where it could be located.

WHAT IT MEANS

The property owner asked for the council to vote, rather than send

the project back to the Design Review Board. A revised proposal now

would be considered a new project, starting from scratch, with all

applicable fees.

The council revisited its denial of a telecommunications facility

in office space in South Laguna and voted 4-1 to reverse its position.

“We got sued on this and it was a slam dunk loss,” said Dicterow,

an attorney.

The facility had been approved by the Planning Commission. Iseman

appealed it and the council upheld the appeal, based not on the

installation of antennas, but rather on the location of ancillary

mechanical equipment.

Nextel Communications filed a law suit in federal court to

challenge the denial, based on other the location in the same

building of other telecommunications mechanical equipment.

Iseman voted against the revision.

WHAT IT MEANS

The city cannot ban telecommunication antennas by federal law. If

the city wants to deny installation of mechanical equipment

associated with the antennas in areas designated for commercial or

retail use, the council could direct the Planning Commission to

explore and evaluate alternatives, including a possible amendment to

the city’s telecommunications ordinance.

SNAPSHOTS: “Just call me Mayor Pearson, it will cut five minutes

off the meeting time,” Pearson-Schneider said.