Discord on Aliso remodel

County officials unveiled a preliminary plan Wednesday night for improvements proposed for Aliso Beach ? and got an earful in response.

About 15 people attended the meeting, held at Lang Park, to review the plan, which included demolition of the building now at the beach to be replaced with a new food concession, a unisex restroom with 10 stalls, an outdoor eating area and a small garage for county beach vehicles.

The plan will be submitted to the city’s Design Review Board and coastal development permit process.

The plan, which was presented by Kevin Thomas and Scott Thomas (not related) of the county’s Harbors, Beaches and Parks division, will be submitted to the city’s Design Review Board and coastal development permit process.

“It was an excellent meeting,” Scott Thomas said. “We got great input and constructive criticism that we will take into consideration.”South Laguna resident Eric Jessen worked on the plan before he retired last year as Chief of Harbors, Beaches and Parks.

“Several years ago, I put the project in motion,” Jessen said. “It was my desire always to tear down the existing building because the restrooms are not Americans with Disabilities Act-compliant and the wiring and plumbing is sub-standard.

“The plan puts the new building up against the bluff that supports the highway and opens up the view.”

Residents are pleased that the county wants to upgrade the beach, but weren’t entirely happy with the plan as proposed.

“The basic comment was that we want to see an overall plan,” former Mayor Ann Christoph said. “Aliso Beach looks like a parking lot with a sidewalk around it.”

Thomas said that a master plan exists but it was created before the Aliso Beach pier ? now gone ? was constructed in the 1970s.

“It may no longer be applicable because we no longer have a pier,” he said.

Christoph said a master plan for the entire beach area would avoid piece-meal development and make certain the area had “flow.”

She didn’t mean the polluted flow from Aliso Creek which was not addressed as part of the improvements proposed by the county.

“I didn’t really expect them to address that,” Surfrider Foundation representative Rick Wilson said.

“They are doing the project because they got FEMA [Federal Emergency Management Agency] money because the pier was damaged in an El Nino storm and had to be demolished,” Wilson said.

“All I really lobbied for was to include something in terms of education about the pollution, keeping the beach clean and protecting resources.”

Resident Greg O’Loughlin suggested that the food concession be upgraded.

“Hot dogs and hamburgers are fine for summer visitors, but I would like to see it be a more resident-serving destination,” O’Loughlin said. “But I was mostly upset by the look of the building.”

Christoph described the architecture as Spanish Colonial Revival with a modern unattached colonnade.

“The colonnade does not relate to the architecture,” Christoph said.

Other suggestions from the public included a man-made tide pool to educate people.