Village Entrance paused

In some areas of the county, $140,000 would by a home. In Laguna, it would buy a parking space in the Village Entrance garage.

The construction costs shocked the City Council, which voted Tuesday to postpone a decision on the proposed parking structure, while other options are studied. However, the council did vote to proceed toward certification of the environmental impact report for the entire Village Entrance development, which would be valid for any proposal that met the parameters in the approved document.

A commodious parking structure was one of the main bargaining chips in the Village Entrance compromise hammered out by Councilwomen Toni Iseman and Elizabeth Schneider that ended years of strife in the community. The compromise included the relocation of the city’s maintenance yard and peripheral parking at the ACT V parcel, and the development of the entrance to include a major parking structure and a park.

“We had a deal,” Iseman said. “And it was a great day in Laguna Beach. Maybe that handshake will come true, but we can’t do it right now.”

Schneider was at home on doctor’s orders because of an infected foot. Relocation of the maintenance yard, deemed necessary to for the construction of a parking structure, opened up space for more surface public parking, which a recent study indicated could reduce the need for the proposed number of spaces in the structure.

The shocking per-space estimate for a net gain of 212 spaces is due mainly to the proposed elimination of surface spaces in the Forest/Laguna Canyon lot in order to construct the park, staff said.

“I would like you [the council] to consider that the top priority is the park,” said former Mayor Ann Christoph. “That’s why we moved the corporation yard. I fear we might just say that we have enough spaces and forget the park. The park is the whole incentive to support this project.”

Not for everyone.

The business community has long endorsed additional parking in the downtown.

However, Councilman Kelly Boyd, who owns a business downtown, was horrified by the $57 million price tag for the entire development of the prominent stretch of city-owned property between City Hall and the Art-A-Affair grounds. He favors satellite parking in north and south ends of Laguna and a smaller central structure

“And if there is a park, so be it,” Boyd said. “But I don’t see how we can spend $57 million, and it wouldn’t pay for itself in the winter.”

A study by Walker Parking Consultants of non-summer parking needs contradicted the perception of few available spaces downtown.

The study showed that on the day of the survey about 24% of the meters in the downtown, not including Laguna Canyon, were unoccupied during the peak demand period from noon to 2 p.m. Spaces on Forest and Ocean avenues, and Broadway fill up the fastest and are occupied longer, according to the study, because they are cheaper than nearby city-owned facilities. The Walker consultant recommended reducing the rates in the city’s lots and structures and increasing the price of short-term parking on the busiest downtown streets.

The yearlong hiatus approved by the council Tuesday will allow city staff to determine how the current surface parking fills the needs of the community and to consider Walker’s proposal.

Design options for the project will be discussed when the draft of the environmental report is presented to the council, scheduled for the first June meeting. A recent estimate for the Village entrance parking structure has consistently hovered around $30 million.