CITYSCAPE ROUNDUP: Street ends proposals to be on view

Architecture students from Cal Poly Pomona will present their proposals to beautify three Laguna Beach street ends that abut the ocean from 9 a.m. to noon Tuesday at Wells Fargo Bank on Ocean Avenue.

The Laguna Beach Chamber of Commerce’s Beautification Council invited the Landscape Construction class in Cal Poly Pomona’s department of landscape architecture to work on a project titled “Laguna Beach Street Ends.” The students are addressing the street ends of Brooks, Cress and Mountain streets.

The project aims to inspire new ideas for the three street ends as open space areas that can be converted into works of urban art, under the oversight of the Beautification Council and SWA Landscape Architecture.

During the 10-week project, students worked in small groups to address the street ends as a series of public spaces that connect environment, city, pedestrian and beach.

In the end the students will make design development documents “” including conceptual grading plans, materials selections, design details, physical and digital models “” that represent their theoretical responses to the real issues presented by the project.

The students spent the first phase investigating the sites, collecting resources and information. This phase explored such issues as beach access, storm water management, physical attributes of the site, public accessibility and parking requirements.

For phase two, focusing on materials and design, the students designed the sites and diagramed their strategies for the street ends, which will be displayed at the open house, to which the community is invited.

? Planning Commission to start meeting an hour earlier

Beginning in March, the regular Laguna Beach Planning Commission meetings will begin at 6:30 p.m. instead of 7 p.m., City Clerk Martha Anderson announced.

For more information, visit www.lagunabeachcity.net

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Council-appointed committee openings up for grabs

The Laguna Beach City Council is accepting applications for six two-year terms on the Heritage Committee and two two-year terms on the TechComm Committee. The terms of both committees will run from April 1 through March 31, 2010. Both committees meet once a month.

Interviews will be conducted at 6 p.m. March 18 by the City Council at their regular meeting in the Council Chambers at City Hall, 505 Forest Ave., Laguna Beach. All applicants will be interviewed.

?The Heritage Committee serves in an advisory role on matters pertaining to historic preservation such as placement of a structure which is not on the Historic Resources List or the Historic Register; removal of a structure from the Historic Register; creation of a special designation plaque program; alterations to “E” rated structures; and demolition of historic structures in a commercial zone.

?The TechComm Committee advises the council and the community on telecommunications issues that affect Laguna Beach (public access television, cable TV service, Internet access, high-speed modems and telephony). The committee also encourages product diversity in telecommunications, promotes availability of low-cost, high-quality service and continues to serve as a kind of ombudsman for residents who have cable or telecommunications concerns.

Laguna Beach residents who are interested in serving on either of these committees should file an application with the City Clerk by 5 p.m. March 11. Applications may be obtained from the clerk’s office or online at www.lagunabeachcity.net. Applications will not be accepted after the deadline.

? Mansionization is topic for neighborhood association

Laguna North Neighborhood An. (LANO) will meet at 6 p.m. Tuesday in Wells Fargo Bank, third floor community room. The meeting will feature John Montgomery, director of community development for Laguna Beach, who will discuss the current mansionization ordinance and implications of proposed height modifications in the commercial neighborhood zone.

Members of other neighborhood associations and the general public are invited to attend. For more information, call (949) 494-9638 or (949) 494-9538.