Responsibility for So. Laguna beaches People have...

Responsibility for So. Laguna beaches

People have known for years that some of the six stairways to the

beach in south Laguna need

repairs and are dangerous for pedestrians to use. The six

stairways and the beaches of south Laguna, which were offered as a

gift by Orange County recently, were turned down because, as Mayor

Pearson-Schneider said:

“They are in very poor condition. If somebody trips and falls...”

Four council members voted no to accepting these stairs and

beaches for liability reasons, and yet the city attorney as long ago

as 2000 said any lawsuit regarding the bad condition of some of these

stairways would involve the city because they are within the city

limits.

These stairways and beaches should be owned by the city of Laguna

Beach, since they are within the city limits of the city.

One of the stairways needing repairs more than others is at 31351

So. Coast Hwy., less than 3/4 of a mile from the Montage Hotel and

Aliso Creek Inn and Golf course.

Why can’t the Montage donate the money needed to repair this

stairway, as a example of what can be done, and why didn’t city

officials tell the whole story, which includes requests for grants

from the Coastal Conservancy.

As a Conservancy board member said in 2001: “I don’t care if a

homeowner wants to challenge us. Let them...Our mandate is to

preserve public access.” (L.A Times, Dec. 7, 2001)

Hats off to Councilperson Jane Egly for voting to accept the gift

of the stairs and beaches.

ROGER CARTER

Undue influence on City Council

In Sean Schlueter’s recent letter to the editor he thanks

Councilman Steve Dicterow and credits him for his insistence on

demanding a two-year Conditional Use Permit for the Montage off-site

parking in South Laguna. Sean should have waited two short weeks for

his praise because at the March 15th Council meeting, Dicterow

reversed his decision by [voting to] eliminate the two-year

restriction.

The Montage came back to the Council on March 15th for, as Council

member Jane Egly so aptly put it, “a second bite of the apple,” after

having agreed on March 1st to the two-year restriction on the CUP for

its off-site parking on the former Unocal gas station site.

At that March 15th Council meeting, Egly stated that she was mad

that this agenda item was back after only two weeks. Many of us who

have been following the bad neighbor practices of the Montage over

the past three years were also mad. We were mad because, for the

Montage to come back to the Council so soon, they must had have some

confidence, regardless of neighbors complaints, that a decision would

be decided their way. And so it was.

The two-year restriction on the CUP was supposed to give the

Montage the incentive to find adequate parking for their needs within

that two-year time period. Dicterow’s motion to eliminate the

two-year restriction was couched in language that made it sound as if

the Montage was not really getting exactly what they came back for,

but they surely did. His motion passed with a 3-2 vote, Elizabeth

Pearson-Schneider and Cheryl Kinsman making up the Council majority

and in essence telling the folks directly affected by the overflow of

cars from the Montage to ‘stuff it’. It’s now blatantly obvious that

Jane Egly and Toni Iseman are the only two left on the Council who

recognize the magnitude of the adverse impact the Montage has had on

the surrounding neighborhood.

Now that the two-year CUP has been removed -- and given the

present City Council majority -- many of us believe the Montage will

not be required to solve their parking problems in the next two

years. In fact, after Tuesday’s Council meeting, we can now not only

fully appreciate the influence the Montage is able to exert but also

see the extent of their unwillingness to adequately solve the

problems they have created.

JOHANNA FELDER