Summary

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In this recap we cover the seismic retrofit for City Hall and Fire Stations 2 & 3; the Traffic & Circulation Committee Recommendations; a Repeal of the Commercial District Buildings height, Mass, and Bulk Ordinance 1675; Increase in Sewage Fees; Finding more Parking Spaces; a Transient Occupancy and/or a Restaurant and Bar Tax Ballot Measure; and, an Appeal of a Planning Commission Approval of Hotel Laguna.

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Notable Items from Public Comments

City Treasurer Laura Parisi said she would like to attend the interviews for the selection of the new audit firm.

Impact of Crowds from Too Many Day Tourists:

Kevin Harrison said we’ve reached the tipping point from overcrowding of our streets and beaches. Other beach cities, such as Malibu and Carmel, use “Lagunafication” hyping of our community as a cautionary tale. We need to have neighborhood parking permits from noon to 5 p.m. for residents.

Chris Catsimanes said Visit Laguna does not need to spend $1.7 million to promote Laguna on social media. We need to write more parking citations and raise the rates since we only get $11,000/year from these tickets for 6.5 million visitors.

Jordan Manning: He has worked for Visit Laguna and said that a resident, Jason, has been using bullying tactics on social media against those who promote our beaches and restaurants.

Erin O’Malley and Kristen Hutchison: They said that while our small community is overwhelmed by visitors that the same thing is happening in Mammoth Lakes, and we should be kind to visitors rather than posting hostile and bullying comments on social media like Jason does.

Aaron Paluso complained about the day trippers and showed examples of Visit Laguna posts on social media of our local beaches. He suggested that Visit Laguna promote our arts and stewardship of our environment more.

Greg Viviani pointed out that we are a Marine Protected Area (MPA) and asked what we are doing to protect our marine life from the damage being caused by day visitors. He said Visit Laguna should be restructured to promote more stewardship of our environment. He noted that the “anti-bullying” campaign was formed to silence those complaining about the number of visitors and congestion.

A woman resident noted that Thousand Steps Beach is now in terrible condition from the number of visitors, and said that the City Council seemed to care more about commercial development and visitors than residents.

Karyn Phillipsen: She said that years ago she was the founding chair of Visit Laguna and wanted to clarify that Visit Laguna is funded by the Lodging Establishments NOT by the City. She said that Visit Laguna appreciates the feedback and is on the path to fixing things.

Sharon: She’s mad about Visit Laguna spending money to promote beaches, such as Crescent Bay where she lives for events, and that the event planners leave fake flower blossoms all over the beaches and park, don’t pick up their trash, and park in her driveway.

Pat Menne said that the crowds at 1000 Steps are out of control and are leaving trash everywhere. She said that Visit Laguna shouldn’t be spending over a million a year to attract more tourists.

Paulette Adams said Visit Laguna was creating problems for residents.


GW: Overtourism has been a major issue for residents, but this problem has grown to a tipping point this year. While there are no easy solutions, the one that strikes me as being the most effective is strongly encouraging visitors with vehicles to park outside of the City limits and charging visitors to enter. If the fee is high enough, visitors will park outside the city limits rather than pay a hefty fee. Is it possible? Cities and towns worldwide are using this solution for the sake of public safety, to reduce gridlock, and environmental impacts.

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Locals in the Austrian town of Hallstatt have taken part in a protest against mass tourism. See why it's a town worth saving below. Will this happen in Laguna Beach? Read about it here:
https://www.businessinsider.com/hallstatt-austria-locals-protest-overtourism-frozen-village-photos-2023-10

 

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Locals protest against over tourism in Hallstatt, Austria, on August 27, 2023. The signs read: “Please think about our children” "Visitors limitation, reclaim habitat"; "Radical limits for mass tourism"; "World culture at its end"; "Tourism Yes. Mass tourism No." “ We have to protect our environment.”

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Finance:
Alex Monda objected to a diminished role for the City Treasurer, Laura Parisi. He also said we should bring back Zoom right away, and that we need to map crime across the City.

Bill Kerlin-GM for Laguna Playhouse said they had spent $300,000 on a building that Laguna Beach owns for electrical and emergency repairs, such as for mold and the roof. They would appreciate some financial help from the City with the funding of these repairs.

Michele Monda said she was appalled by the treatment of Laura Parisi, City Treasurer, and referred to John Moorlach’s column about the City’s financial issues in the 7-23-24 issue of StuNews Laguna. She also requested that Zoom be reinstated as Jim Grossberg suggested in his 7/12 Indy column.

Mary Locatelli said we need to restructure the Finance Dept. and objected to replacing the city’s contracted audit firm, Eide Bailly. She spoke about the finance material weaknesses identified in the audit reports that John Moorlach flagged in his StuNews Laguna column.

Safety:

Christy Miller thanked Public Services staff and Marine Safety for the substantial (2,200) number of rescues for the weekend of July 4th.

Terry Ann said the crosswalk lighting on Glenneyre was not adequate, and that she has seen a number of near misses of pedestrians by cars. She suggested the addition of crosswalks with lighting.

Feng Shui Jimm: Noted that there is little assistance for unhoused families with children in Laguna. He adds that musicians lack music spaces in town other than the Sound Spectrum.

 

Neighborhood Congregational Church (NCC) Housing Project:
Jennifer Zeiter said a traffic study was needed for the NCC project prior to its submission to the city.

GW: The City Attorney and City Manager advised City Council members and City Staff that we have to be careful about making any comments for or against the NCC Housing Plan since it is a pending project.

 

 

CONSENT ITEMS:

Item #4. Contract Amendment with IDS Group, Inc. for Tier 3 Seismic Retrofit for City Hall and Fire Stations 2 and 3 Passed 4-1 (Mayor Pro Tem Rounaghi dissenting)

The City has spent $250,000 for the seismic testing of City Hall and the fire stations, and the majority of the Council members voted to authorize the City Manager to amend Agreement #23-129 with IDS Group Inc. in the amount of $110,000 to do the rest of the testing.

Item #5. Parking, Traffic, and Circulation Committee Recommendation to Establish a 3-hour Limit Citywide at Golf Cart parking spaces. Passed 5-0

Item #7. Repeal of the Commercial District Buildings Height, Mass, and Bulk Ordinance 1675. Passed 3-1 (I opposed; and Councilmember Orgill abstained)

GW: Ordinance 1675 was drafted by some members of the City Council as a counter to the 2022 defeated Measure Q Ballot Measure. I thought that Ordinance 1675 should have been presented as a Ballot Measure for the public’s vote in 2024.

 

REGULAR AGENDA:
Item #15. Special Assessment of the Sewer Service Fees on the County Tax roll: Passed 5-0

GW: Higher fees or taxes are never the news any of us want. However, the infrastructure of the main pipes of our sewage system has been delayed for so many years that major work can’t be put off any longer, and needs to be done. None of us want back ups or spills of sewage. It’s going to cost us in more fees to get this work done.

Item #16. Parking and Transportation Demand Management Report Passed 5-0

Background: The report described options for working with existing commercial property and business owners to use their parking lots when not in use, exploring the option of increasing the fees for parking citations that haven’t been raised for decades, and researching the impact of converting free parking to paid parking along PCH.

Public Comments:

 

Pat Menne, Gene Felder, and Aaron Blueso commented that more parking citations should be given and that the fees for them should be higher.

Greg Viviani said that it isn’t helpful to add more parking spaces since it just encourages more visitors. And, Aaron recommended that business employees park at Act V and be transported into town so that they don’t park in the neighborhoods.

Chris Catsimanes said that the loss of 57 parking spots on the Promenade has driven visitors to park in adjacent neighborhoods.

GW: I’m in favor of increasing the fees for parking citations since they haven’t been increased for many years and haven’t deterred beachgoers from parking over the time limit. Plus, we could use the revenue to fund a number of City projects (like the sewer repairs) that we’ve neglected for lack of funding.

Item # 17 Transient Occupancy Tax (TOT) and Business License Tax (BLT) Neither TOT or BLT passed. (I voted in favor of increasing the BLT but not the TOT.)

Background: In June 2024 Council received the results of a survey related to increasing taxes and other topics. Read about it here: https://www.georgeweisscitycouncil.org/_files/ugd/afdd59_f3fbf2d71a8d46e3a74fc9c11477fc7b.pdf

Mark Orgill and Bob Whalen created an ad hoc committee to explore additional revenue by increasing the TOT and or Business License Tax via a Ballot Measure. Some BLT taxes have not been increased in 28 years. The ad hoc committee had a Town Hall at which 80-100 residents attended. The vast majority supported an increase in the BLT.

The revenue collected would be used to offset the cost of services provided to day tourists. John Thomas and James Danzinger published a study that concluded that day trippers were costing the city over $20 million annually.

Public Comments:
 

John Thomas suggested that 80% of restaurant and bar revenues come from tourists. He and Jim Danzinger presented a plan for a service fee added to the bottom of a bar or restaurant bill that could be gradually phased in from 1% - 3%, so there would be no costs to the bars and restaurants. Danzinger noted that 21 States have this additional tax/fee at the bottom of the bill.

Spoke in opposition to one or the other of these fees:

Kurt Bjorkland, The Ranch: He was in favor of John Thomas’ and Jim Danzinger’s suggestion, but couldn’t support a TOT since it would make hotels less competitive.

Marc Cohen: Said that an additional fee would hurt locals who are most of his restaurant’s clientele.

Cary Redfern, Slice and the Lumberyard: Said 75% of his business is local, so the additional fee would hurt residents versus visitors. Plus, it could hurt his revenue and he’s barely making any profit.

Spoke in support of one of the other of these fees:
A few restauranteurs spoke opposing the TOT, but no one spoke in favor of it.

People who spoke in favor of John Thomas’ and Jim Danzinger’s BLT proposal:
Jerome Pudwell, Michele Monda, Jacob Cherub, and Pat Menne. Aaron Blusto and Judy Mancuso wanted the BLT service fee added to bar tabs only.

GW: Unfortunately, four YES votes were needed to place a Ballot Measure on the November ballot. Since Mayor Sue Kempf and Pro Tem Alex Rounaghi opposed any increase, this made it impossible to secure the four votes needed to allow residents to vote on one of these measures.

In general, most residents supported raising the BLT because they saw restaurants and bars as attracting the highest percentage of visitors. Councilmember Bob Whalen and I supported increasing the BLT while Councilmember Mark Orgill did not indicate his support for either option although he was on the ad hoc committee. I spoke in opposition to raising the TOT as hotel guests do not create the costly impacts that day trippers do.


Appeal B: Planning Commission Approval of Design Review and Categorical Exemption from CEQA. Denied 5-0

Background:

Other than the restaurant opening a couple of years ago, the Hotel Laguna has not been in operation since 2017, due to the missteps of the previous developer. This appeal involved approval by the Planning Commission of repainting the building, replacement of guest room doors and windows, replacement of fire escapes and accessways, restoring the rooftop spire, façade restorations including awnings, renovation of the hotel rooms, remodeling of the 2nd and 3rd floor guest rooms including hallways and the 1st floor lobby, reception, retail spaced, corner café, structural repairs and upgrades throughout, replacement of the flat rood and installing of two vertical blade signs.

Note: The appeal was filed by a non-resident, Christine Miller, but Ms. Miller was filing the appeal on behalf of Unite Here 11, a labor union that represents hotel housekeepers and other hotel workers.

GW: I suspect Unite Here 11 appealed this project to put pressure on the leaseholders to negotiate a labor agreement for its workers. This happened previously when Unite Here 11 appealed the approval of the Pacific Edge Hotel to Council and then the Coastal Commission. The Coastal Commission rejected the City Council approving removal of the obligation to provide 6 low-income rooms. Pacific Edge also agreed to enter a labor agreement with Unite Here 11.

I spent a considerable amount of time trying to understand whether the work described above if added to the previous work done under separate permits could constitute a “Major Remodel” If yes, this would have triggered some requirements such as providing some lower income rooms.

I voted against the appeal as did the rest of the Council because it did not seem like a major remodel based on the material presented.

It will be up to the Coastal Commission to determine if the work complies with the city’s Local Coastal Plan and its own regulations. We should know in a few months.

Here’s hoping the Coastal Commission approves the project so the Hotel Laguna can fully open in 2025. The City needs the TOT revenue which could be $1 million or more annually.
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