Council declares shelter crisis

City officials declared a shelter crisis in Laguna Beach on Tuesday, expediting the opening of a temporary nighttime haven for the homeless in Laguna Canyon to get them off city beaches and out of parks at night — and then gave preliminary approval to a beach and park curfew.

The City Council voted unanimously in favor of adopting a resolution based on a state law that allows the city to promptly address the need for emergency shelters when the health and safety of a significant number of people are threatened.

The declaration exempts the city from state or local regulatory statutes, regulations or ordinances if strict compliance would prevent or delay the project — such as a coastal development permit, issued either by the California Coastal Commission or the city, as demanded by a local builder.

“Given the commission’s current backlog, staffing issues and state cuts, I don’t think they could have met on the project within the eight-and-a-half-month period we plan to operate the shelter at ACT V,” said Assistant City Manager John Pietig. “And it would probably take the city at least 60 days, operating at light speed.”

Laguna’s certified Local Coastal Plan allows the city to issue coastal development permits.

However, ACT V was not included in the original commission certification because it was in unincorporated county land at the time. After annexing the parcel, the city filed an application to amend the plan and include ACT V about a year ago, but the commission has yet to take action.

The declaration of a crisis moves the project forward at high speed and makes the city immune from liability for ordinary negligence, applying to conditions, acts or omissions directly related to the shelter that would not would not have occurred if not for the facility. Grossly negligent, reckless or intentional conduct that causes injury is not covered.

Staff opined that such conduct is not expected.

Once the shelter is in operation, the city will begin to enforce the state laws prohibiting camping on public property, including city beaches and parks.

However, no one, including residents and tourists, will be allowed on the beaches or in the parks if the council approves an ordinance on the second reading that puts beaches and parks off limits from 1 to 5 a.m.

The proposed ordinance is the city’s response to complaints about undesirable activities in the parks and on the beaches.

City staff presented the council with more than 80 letters, e-mails and articles attributed to citizens, tourists and business owners concerned about public safety and inappropriate activities. A list of more than 50 police responses to Heisler Park, Main Beach Park and adjacent beaches was also submitted.

The council voted to close the beaches and parks for four hours nightly until June 15, when the curfew will be reviewed.

“Taking away the residents’ rights to the beaches shouldn’t be entered into lightly,” said Environmental Committee member Chris Prelitz, one of four speakers who opposed the curfew.

Going to the beach on a hot summer night and running on the sand in the early morning are among the reasons people live in Laguna, Kedric Francis said.

No one from the public spoke in favor of the curfew, and until City Manager Ken Frank stepped in to support it, the council seriously considered tabling it for a few months to see if concerns and complaints diminished after the temporary shelter opens.

The city plans to have the shelter operating through June 21 at ACT V and elsewhere in the city until the council deems the shelter crisis to be terminated.

In any case, the ACT V shelter must be vacated by June 21 to make way for festival season parking mandated by the coastal commission.

Frank reported in his Oct. 16 weekly memorandum that discussions are underway about the collaborative operation of the shelter by Mercy House, Friendship Shelter and the Laguna Beach Relief and Resource Center.

A recommendation regarding the operating contract will be presented to the council at the Nov. 3 meeting.

“Staff also will recommend criteria at the Nov. 3 meeting for limiting access to the shelter if it becomes overwhelmed,” Pietig said.

Deals on meals are pending to eliminate food service in city parks, which could undermine the success of the shelter.

Experts say serving meals at the shelter only is essential to the success of the program, according to Councilwoman Toni Iseman, a non-voting participant on the now-disbanded Advisory Committee on Homelessness.

A meal will be served at 6:30 nightly. The resource center will provide sack lunches, to be distributed in the mornings, she said.

Iseman also announced that the resource center and Friendship Shelter will open their bathroom facilities to the homeless for showers.

“The Interfaith Council heard about the collaboration and we see a plan,” said Daga Krackowizer, another member of the advisory committee. “But I want to remind everyone that this is a temporary shelter. We have a long way to go.”

For now the city has leased a 2,880-square-foot modular unit to be delivered to ACT V the week of Nov. 2, with the intent of having it ready for use during the week of Nov. 9.

City buses will pick up the homeless who want to catch a ride on the nightly trip to their depot at ACT V Monday through Saturday.

However, the buses won’t be available for return trips in the mornings, which concerned Councilwoman Verna Rollinger.

“I am thinking about the neighbors in the canyon,” Rollinger said. “Maybe they would be happier with us if we provided transportation back into town.”

Canyon resident Randy Bader lambasted the council at the Oct. 6 meeting for planning to put the shelter at ACT V.

Keri M. Kern, who grew up in Canyon Acres and lives there now, said the idea of the unknown homeless wandering up and down Laguna Canyon Road scares her to death.

“It isn’t fair to take a problem in one place and dump it in another place,” Kern said. “I am not saying you [council] have an easy task, but please consider people living in the neighborhood.”

The neighbors won’t have much to worry about if artist John Chaney is right.

He claimed that none of the homeless people he has spoken to will go to the shelter.

“I am shocked to hear [the city] is trying to herd people into what they consider a concentration camp,” said Helene M. Ayres, who went to school in Laguna and has been homeless for 10 years. “You should have them come to the meetings. Homeless people know what you are doing — but they are not allowed to come here.

“I don’t approve of what you are doing. People are being ram-rodded into decisions and that makes me very angry.”

One homeless man said he had been approached after an advisory committee meeting by a man, known to think city officials and advisory committee members are clueless, who said the city was going to corral the homeless and they had agreed the site was “a Nazi camp.”

No one has owned up to the comment.

“When are tattoos on our arms coming?” asked Doug Du Maurier, who claims city residency under a bush.

The homeless will not be forced to use the shelter.

“We’ve got an alternate site — the problem is how to make it attractive,” said advisory committee member Arnold Hano. “What can be done should be done.”