Trailer parks and nudes in Laguna

City Council got what it wanted this year -- statues with clothes -- but El Morro Village residents did not.1 Landslide: See “Top Story of 2005.”

2 A landmark compromise on the development of a municipal facility at the Act V parking lot on Laguna Canyon Road hammered out in January paved the way for development of the Village Entrance project near City Hall. Key refinements -- approved by the Coastal Commission in June -- included 264 public parking spaces at Act V instead of 173; one two-story building instead of two one-story buildings, reducing the footprint by 33 percent; more trees and a bigger budget.

3 The saga of El Morro Village trailer park residents seeking to thwart eviction from their beachfront site got a boost early in the year when freshman Assemblyman Chuck Devore went to bat for them with two bills that would have allowed them to stay in place another 30 years. But the bills were withdrawn for lack of support, and, after a last-ditch legal effort, the tenants finally agreed in November to a settlement requiring them to leave the beachfront area in February so the site can be turned into a public park.

4 In a good-news, bad-news scenario, the governing board of South Coast Medical Center voted in July to keep the hospital in Laguna Beach, but hospital owner Adventist Health put the facility up for sale. It will cost $72 million to bring the hospital up to current seismic standards. By the end of the year, several key staff members had left, and no buyer had stepped forward to take ownership.

5 Athens Group was rebuffed by Orange County Supervisor Tom Wilson in February on a plan to expand Aliso Creek Golf Course into publicly owned open space as part of a redevelopment plan. In October, the firm’s unveiling of a new concept plan that retains the 9-hole course got good reviews.

6 Redevelopment of the former Pottery Shack site was approved by city officials. The plan included demolition of historic buildings and trees to allow for a parking garage. The demolition itself generated emotional responses from community members. The new retail center is due to open in early 2006 with a new name, to be selected from some 1,000 entries to a naming contest.

7 The city hired Matt Brown as its first marine protection officer in April, but he left the job -- and Laguna -- in October, relocating to Oregon and citing the high cost of housing in Laguna.

8 The Day Labor Center became the target of repeated protests by anti-illegal immigrant groups, led by the militant Minuteman Project. The protesters also picketed the Festival of Arts after it was reported that funding for the labor center comes from the festival’s lease payments to the city. Efforts by some Laguna residents to convince the City Council to shut down the labor center were rebuffed.

9 MTV’s reality show “Laguna Beach: The Real Orange County” became a target of protests by Lagunans who believe the show is hurting the image of the city. When the school board refused in December to allow cast member Dieter Schmitz to stage a teen suicide fundraiser at the high school, the protests swung the other way.

10 A February vote by the City Council to banish nudes from any proposed art for a project in front of City Hall provoked anger and laughter in many quarters. Later in the year, the council approved a sculpture, “The People’s Council.” It depicts city officials fully clothed.