"All seven of us put a lot of work into this, and we had widespread support from the public and among the council members," Lawson said.
Council sets policies, staff implements them.
"A joint progress report will be submitted for the second council meeting in January or the first meeting in February," Lawson said.
The city's newest council member, Kelly Boyd, said council meetings would be a lot shorter if the design board was more stable, more friendly and less contentious.
"Then, less appeals would come to the council," Boyd said.
Appeals often take an hour to hear, and they are usually last on the agenda. Council does have a policy to take a straw vote on starting a hearing after 11 p.m.
As always, traffic is an issue for residents.
Gigi Blount would like to see motorists show a little more consideration.
"I wish we had more control over speeding vehicles," Blount said. "The cars come clickety-clack, and you can hardly get out of your garage."
Better traffic management is also on Judy Regan's mind.
"We need to get some kind of control at Forest Avenue and Beach Street," Regan said.
Sam Goldstein would like to see traffic move more smoothly on Laguna Canyon Road during the afternoon commute hours, which start at about 3:30 p.m.
Laguna Canyon Foundation Administrative Director Guine Breeding is concerned that pedestrians don't always acknowledge that cars have to keep moving.
"Traffic would move better if the pedestrians would just let one or two cars go by before they step off the curb," Breeding said.
North Laguna resident Bette Anderson thinks it would be great to see progress on the Village Entrance project without changing Laguna's character.
"I want to see Laguna stay the way it is, the way I love it," Anderson said.
