GEORGE WEISS
Laguna Beach City Council
CITY COUNCIL MEETING RECAP — 1/11/2022
REGULAR AGENDA
Security Update From
Providence Mission Hospital
George Weiss: A hospital representative Lanette Faulkner provided a PowerPoint presentation that covered new security measures to keep visitors safe. By way of background, the Chief of Police, Jeff Calvert, testified that there were 864 service calls in 2018, while in 2021 there were 506. So, progress has been made. However, Providence Mission Hospital remains both a regional mental health center and a rehabilitation center for substance abuse. This combination has created some problems in the neighborhood, with a patient dying on the beach and in the adjacent neighborhood within a day or so of being released.
Measures being taken to increase security include the hiring of a New Security Supervisor and new Track Tik phones (https://www.tracktik.com/security-guard-sonim-device/) for Security Guards that enable the LBPD to contact hospital security directly.
The hospital has added extra hourly security rounds, a dedicated security/parking post, fourteen cameras to the site, and a Segway scooter to enable security to get anywhere on the hospital campus quickly.
Unfortunately, the hospital did not provide the PowerPoint presentation in time to post it on the Staff Report for the agenda, however, I can provide this document upon request.
Laguna Residents First Ballot Initiative Fiscal Impact Analysis Report And Land Use Implications Passes 3-2
George Weiss: While I approved hiring a consultant to do this study, the results were far less than impressive. First, in any college business class, one is taught that that you should subtract costs from revenue to derive a number that makes sense. Analyzing only revenue provides a false number.
There are significant costs associated with everyday trip visitors. In addition, while this study focused on lost revenue to the City’s coffers, it made no mention of possible negative impacts of staying the course on the quality-of-life residents moved here for. Do we need large new hotels? Do we need more bars and restaurants as we lead in the number of alcoholic outlets when considering the size of our town? We lead in DUIs too. With a $120M budget and the potential loss of three million in revenue over three years if the ballot initiative passes, it is just not a significant amount of money – especially if one subtracts the cost for tourist services which run between $20M and $24M per year (approximately $4 per day visitor).
For more information, see:
https://lagunabeachcity.granicus.com/MetaViewer.php?view_id=3&clip_id=1562&meta_id=119820
Also, read the LRF Ballot Initiative at: www.lagunaresidentsfirst.org
Approval of General Plan Amendment 2021-8426
And Certification of Negative Declaration For Sixth Cycle Housing Element Update Passes 5-0
George Weiss: The State of California requires every municipality to periodically update its Housing Element of the General Plan. In this case, the City was required to create zoning for affordable housing and other categories of housing based on a target of 384 new units over the next 10 years.
The City is not required to build the housing, but only to create zoning that makes it possible to build. Of note, resident and Council were concerned over a parcel located east of Providence Mission Hospital, in what is now an open space and high fire risk zone. While it is unlikely that the hospital, which owns the parcel, will build on it, building any structure in a high fire risk zone does not make sense.
For more information, see:
https://lagunabeachcity.granicus.com/MetaViewer.php?view_id=3&clip_id=1562&meta_id=119824
Presentation Of The Housing And Human Services Committee’s Affordable Housing Candidate Analysis
:
George Weiss: Planning Commissioner Steve Kellenberg (formerly a member of the Housing And Human Services Committee) presented four sites as opportunities to build affordable housing. I applaud his work on this, as it took a considerable amount of time and effort. The Council selected three sites for further review: the Ocean Avenue Lot #3 across from Wells Fargo Bank, the LB School District bus lot site on Laguna Canyon Road and a site adjacent to the eighty affordable units at Vista Alison, 21444 Wesley Drive, (near the Methodist Church). I would urge everyone with an interest in affordable housing to view Kellenberg’s report.
The City cannot fund affordable housing alone. This must be done through private/public partnerships, where the City donates the land or provides funding that is matched by a privately funded housing organization. If you are interested in this concept, please contact me.
For more information, see:
https://lagunabeachcity.granicus.com/MetaViewer.php?view_id=3&clip_id=1562&meta_id=119828