Yard move goes to state

Barbara Diamond Coastline Pilot

A revised plan to relocate much of the city’s maintenance yard to the

Act V parking lot in Laguna Canyon will go to the California Coastal

Commission with the blessings of the full council.

The revised maintenance yard plan is based on a compromise

presented to the community in January by Mayor Elizabeth

Pearson-Schneider and Councilwoman Toni Iseman and further refined by

them, ending years of vitriolic community wrangling.

“I was mayor when I had the crazy idea of putting Toni and

Elizabeth in a room together and see what comes out,” said

Councilwoman Cheryl Kinsman. “This is nothing short of a miracle. I

wouldn’t change a thing.”

The City Council voted unanimously at the April 5 meeting to take

the steps needed to present the plan to the commission. Approval of

the compromise plan will open the way for the development of the

Village Entrance in which the community can take pride and park. That

proposal has been in the works for a decade.

“Through the spirit of compromise, every one wins in this

project,” Iseman said.

Iseman and Pearson-Schneider paid tribute to the contributions of

the city staff to the revised plans.

“Staff worked so hard and came up with great ideas and created a

better project,” Iseman said.

Key refinements presented at the council meeting included 264

public parking spaces at Act V, compared to the 173 in the previous

plan; one two-story building, instead of the two one-story buildings,

reducing the footprint by 33% ; a 22% reduction in the fuel

modification zone; more trees and a bigger budget.

The local coastal plan permits one-story buildings on the site,

but the two-stories proposed will be under the height limit for one

story.

“It will require coastal commission approval, but the staff seems

generally in favor of it,” assistant city manager John Pietig said.

“It will take strong commission support.”

Iseman is a member of the commission and is allowed to vote on

projects in her district.

“The other key issue is the estimated budget, which has increased

from $5.4 million to $6.4 million,” Pietig said.

Pietig expects the city to cover the increase by boosting the

sales price of the city-owned Olive Street lots to $700,000 each and

requesting additional funding from the Orange County Transportation

Authority for its portion of the project.

Village Laguna President Doug Reilly said the group appreciates

concessions made in the projects that provide more parking at Act V

and leaves the shuttle bus stop where it will attract riders, but

still has some concerns.

“We feel the presence of gas tanks will greatly increase both the

risk of the spread of fire into the wilderness park and the risk that

a wildfire in the park will destroy the maintenance equipment on

which the city depends,” Reilly said.

Iseman, the standard bearer for Village Laguna, said she too would

prefer the fuel station closer to the fire department, but the

proposed plan won’t work unless all vehicles are in one location, and

she has been assured it is safe.

“Early on, the gas tanks were a sticking point for me -- I said

no, no, no,” Iseman said. “But I was educated by the staff.”

Reilly also said Village Laguna was pleased that the Act V

maintenance yard and the Village Entrance are now being considered as

a single project.

However, the addition of street level parking will not take place

until Act V is ready for occupancy and only as interim use until the

Village Entrance project is undertaken. Funding will be separate.

“We have pretty much have enough money for Act V,”

Pearson-Schneider said. “Toni and I would like to see the Village

Entrance construction start within five years. But we have do some

work on the funding.”

Current thinking is to float a bond issue to cover the estimated

$20 million cost for the Village Entrance.

Reilly urged the council to direct City Manager Ken Frank to

prepare a plan for a bond issue as soon as possible.

“Five years is a long time,” Reilly said. “When we heard about the

interest in a bond issue, we hoped the time [construction start date]

would be shorter.”

Revised plans for the Village Entrance project presented at the

meeting showed 580 public parking spaces in a parking structure, with

accesses from Forest Avenue and Laguna Canyon Road and possibly a few

more spaces clustered around the Sewer Tower Plaza.

“I generally am in favor of building the Village Entrance, but I

have a lot of concern about cars downtown,” Loma Terrace resident

Michael Hoag said. “I fear the Village Entrance [parking garage] will

act like a magnet. Any way to keep cars out of downtown is worth

considering.”

The revised plan also included some maintenance and storage

facilities, meter and sign shops previously proposed for Act V, flood

proofing of facilities in the flood plain, a public park and possibly

a pedestrian bridge across Laguna Canyon Road. Staff has already

secured a Cal Trans grant to install a stoplight at the location.

Studioneleven prepared the plans for the ultimate reuse of the

current yard, but not the interim plan for employee and 190 public

parking spaces.

Staff was directed to seek permits for the interim conversion and

will bring back a modification to the 2006-07 capital improvement

program to include the funding.

A work plan and cost estimates for Village Entrance will be

presented to the council for consideration in June.

Iseman and Pearson-Schneider will host workshops to keep the

public updated on progress and any plan changes.