Mailbag: It is in Laguna’s nature to save sewer digester tower
The future of the historic sewer digester tower on Laguna Canyon Road will be under discussion at the Village Entrance workshop Wednesday.
The restoration and reuse of the tower and the building attached to it — which now houses Laguna Beach Police Department records — has been part of the Village Entrance project from the beginning, but the current concept entertains the possibility of transferring most of the money to the re-landscaping of the Laguna Canyon Road median instead.
The council has left the decision to the public so far, but several council members have expressed a lack of interest in the building. This means that public input will be critical if this historic building is to be saved.
Here are some of the reasons that it should be restored:
•It’s recognized by historians as architecturally unique.
•It’s on the city’s Historic Register and has been eligible for the national and state registers of historic places.
•It’s a reminder of the boldness of our earliest city leaders, who in the midst of the Great Depression saw the critical need for a comprehensive sewage treatment system, passed a bond issue totaling $180,000 and vigorously pursued newly available federal funding from the Public Works Administration when the bonds went unsold.
•Its architectural style reflects the aesthetic sensibility of Lagunans from the very beginning. The community needed a sewage treatment plant, but it had to be beautiful.
•It survived the demolition of the rest of the sewage treatment plant in 1989 at the insistence of the community. Its deteriorating condition today has everything to do with a lack of maintenance over the past 25 years. Repairs and clean-up will extend its useful life, if only for its current purpose.
•The money to pay for restoring it is included in the project budget, while funding for re-landscaping the road median is part of the city’s near-term capital improvements budget. We can do both, and until recently, that was the plan.
Residents who want to see this landmark restored should plan to attend the workshop at 6 p.m. Wednesday in the Council Chambers and raise their hands.
Barbara Metzger
Laguna beach
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Based on similar shelters, Laguna’s should do well
On June 30, I went on an informative bus tour offered by the Friendship Shelter to illustrate how supportive housing works.
Our group traveled to Midway City and Anaheim to see successful models of supportive housing for homeless people who struggle with mental illness and other problems that had kept them from stable housing.
I was so impressed with how these residents are now thriving and leading their lives with dignity.
As with the other communities we visited, each resident at the proposed Laguna Beach community will have a full gamut of supportive services: an assigned case manager who keeps regular office hours, on-site resident service coordinators to act as liaisons to the client’s case managers, a certified resident manager living on the premises, and access to 24/7 support.
All this was housed in tidy, well-maintained buildings that are attractive additions to their neighborhoods.
Having seen how an established supportive housing community functions, I am in full support of the Friendship Shelter’s proposal to house 40 homeless people in a similarly well-managed community in Laguna Canyon.
As a final thought to the community, where would you prefer to sleep if you had the misfortune of finding yourself mentally ill and homeless — supportive housing or on the ground out in the open?
Kim Bailey
Laguna Beach
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Toured shelters were great, but not for the canyon
Regarding the proposed permanent housing for the mentally ill in Laguna Canyon:
Last week, my wife and I had were invited to tour two permanent housing facilities for people with mental issues, run by Jamboree Housing and similar to the one being proposed by the Friendship Shelter in the canyon.
I became involved in this issue because for the past four years I have been going to the Laguna Beach Dog Park on a daily basis. My wife is also president of the Friends of the Dog Park.
I appreciated the tour of the facilities and the professional manner in which questions were answered by our hosts. I left the tour with some of my concerns resolved and a couple of new ones.
I was worried that the people living in the permanent housing facility would be the mentally ill homeless we see in town or in the canyon; people who could be a danger to themselves or others. I found the people living in these facilities to be well taken care of, both by themselves and their case workers. They were proud of their homes and of their neighbors. Additionally, we were told that most tenants were from the local area.
However I was left with new concerns. First, each of these facilities was in a neighborhood that had easy walking access to supermarkets, restaurants and neighborhood activities. While it was made clear to us the housing employees or their case workers often drove the tenants around, the tenants told us they walked around their neighborhood for services. I believe walking the canyon would be a danger to these folks.
Secondly, each of these facilities was very large. With a plan to house 40 people on a limited amount of land in between the Marine Mammal Center and the Dog Park, I imagine this building would have to be large as well. This could fundamentally change the canyon. Of course, not having seen the plan, I may be wrong.
Finally, each of the facilities was in a low-income area, not a tourist town. One is located on an off ramp to the 5, and another just a few blocks from the 405. That being the case, I think we might be creating a future for Laguna in which the canyon doesn’t add to the beauty and allure, which is its economic basis.
Overall I was impressed with the facilities and the services they provide. I was thrilled for the people who lived in them and I would support such housing in Laguna. I just believe the location is wrong.
Michael Waldman
Laguna Beach
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Council must be strong while protecting views
History and achievement belongs to the bold and brave, not to the meek and timid.
With this reality in mind, I ask the City Council to be bold and brave and save Laguna’s priceless unique views and enact a strong, fair, economical, city-enforced view and safety preservation and restoration ordinance.
During the 20 years that timid City Councils have wasted everyone’s time by not enacting view and safety ordinances that have been offered, fire hazards and hostility between neighbors has increased.
The tax money generated by increased property values that come with restored and preserved views will more than offset any costs the city the encounter by having a simple and effective ordinance.
Dave Connell
Laguna Beach