Hillside

  Editor's note: The following is an open letter to the Laguna Beach Design Review Board.   We just wanted to give you a progress report on the Ceanothus development which your board permitted to invade our neighborhood. During the hearings one and a half year ago — give or take a few months — you ignored most of our concerns. You swept aside our pleas to take into account how seriously the excavation for this four-house monster development by outside speculators would disrupt our neighborhood and the surrounding environment.

More rain came and went this past weekend in Laguna, but some residents are still busy cleaning up from the previous hard-hitting rainstorms. In February, five homes were red-tagged and residents evacuated in Bluebird Canyon after the hillside gave way under the pressure of unrelenting rains. Lars Roulund's home in the 1300 block of Morningside Drive was one of those red-tagged, when the deck began to slip down the hillside. Now, Morningside Drive and surrounding streets are a hub of construction as repair work is in full swing to stabilize the area.

The current drought has left our surrounding Laguna hillsides tinder dry. When the ?devil winds? (Santa Anas) blow down our canyons and over our hilltops, we have all of the necessary ingredients for another terrible disaster to befall our city like the one in 1993 that brought so much pain to so many of our residents. We are so very fortunate to have escaped the terrible ?perfect firestorm? of the past week. The magnitude of this latest disaster is almost incomprehensible. Imagine more than 500,000 persons evacuated in San Diego County alone.

Restoration of Bluebird Canyon was completed this year, but the story isn’t over. The city’s response to the June 1, 2005, landslide defines Laguna Beach in the eyes of the residents as a community that knows how to cope with disaster and cares for its own. Private donations flooded in to help the victims and a voter-approved temporary sales tax helped fund the restoration of the hillside, the utilities and Flamingo Road, while city...

Ceanothus Drive in South Laguna could be extended by 400 feet under a proposal to provide access for a four-home development in the hillside area abutting a wilderness park. Laguna Beach planners intend to adopt a Mitigated Negative Declaration of environmental impact for the road extension. The public comment period ends Thursday. A Mitigated Negative Declaration finding would mean the proposed development would not require a full environmental impact report. If approved, the project would extend the road 400 feet through hillside to reach five buildable lots — that may be combined into four — owned by Santa Monica-based company Coast Royale LLC. A Negative Declaration from the city would mean there is no negative impact on the surrounding land.

Barbara Diamond A nightmare began on the morning of Oct. 2, 1978, for Bluebird Canyon residents. Forty homes were destroyed as the hillside cracked open and dropped, snapping and popping. Miraculously, no lives were lost. The disaster will be revisited at 7:30 p.m. today in a presentation at the City Council chambers. Bluebird Canyon resident Dale Ghere organized the program, which records the memories and preserves memorabilia of the slide, including photographs "What I remember are the sounds," Ghere's wife, Marilyn, said.

Limiting amount of moisture in soil is key to averting landslides, geologist tells Laguna residents.Rain is the enemy of hillside communities. A strong connection exists between above-average rainfall and landslides, according to city consulting geotechnical engineer Hannes Richter. "The average rainfall in Laguna is just under 13 inches a year, and every time it exceeds the average we get a landslide somewhere in town," Richter said. "Rain soaks into the ground, and you'll have problems."

Linda Pirri is living her dream ? and wants to share it with others. The silk painting artist will open her hillside-home studio to visitors for the first time on the 15th annual Art Studio Tour sponsored by the Sawdust Art Festival on Saturday, April 8. Pirri, along with 49 Laguna artists, will demonstrate her technique and the process of making art. Pirri uses an ancient technique called batik/serti to create colorful and dramatic scenes...

The sun shone brightly Thursday, the first anniversary of one of the darkest days in Laguna's history. Early in the morning of June 1, 2005, a hillside in Bluebird Canyon ruptured, devastating the lives of families who watched their homes wrenched from foundations, split asunder or tumbling into the oblivion. More than 1,000 people were evacuated safely, but 21 homes were damaged, 12 of them beyond repair. "It was the darkest day of my life, but gosh, imagine if I had a really sick kid or someone had died," Todd McCallum said.

Lagunans are one lucky bunch of people. With a bluebelt to the west and a greenbelt to the east, natural environments surround our community. The extended hours of daylight savings insure that we have ample time after work to enjoy water or hillside pleasures. Dartmoor Trail beckoned one late afternoon to both prod memories and to stretch my legs. I donned hiking boots, grabbed water, and set out to explore what spring had left to offer. The trail traverses land that I once considered my personal "backyard."

Pros and cons of the social host ordinance aimed at curbing teenage drinking in private homes was debated Tuesday in a packed City Council chamber. The council voted unanimously to direct staff to draft an ordinance after listening to remarks from 17 speakers, 13 of them in favor of the proposed ordinance requested by the Laguna Beach Community Coalition. Speakers included students, parents, school district officials and medical professionals. "A growing number of cities and counties have adopted social host accountability ordinances," Bill Landsdal said at the meeting.

Skateboarders may have won a significant victory Sept. 23. The Parking, Traffic and Circulation Committee eliminated from a proposed ordinance a ban on skateboarding on steep hillside streets such as Park Avenue. The committee's recommendations will be reviewed by the city attorney and the Police Department before going to the City Council for a final decision. The council is tentatively scheduled to decide on the issue Nov. 16, said Jim Beres, civilian supervisor for the Police Department.

The owner of property on Ceanothus Drive in South Laguna will have at least two more years to extend a road and meet other conditions set by the city on his project. Approval of the time extension by the City Council on Tuesday came after the verification of property owner Coast Royale LLC's offer of an easement that would allow the city to move ahead on the construction of a turn-around and parking area improvements on Ceanothus. "We are just extending what we already agreed to, with the pot sweetened a little," Councilwoman Jane Egly said.

Sheets of rain, mud flows and high winds caused a few mishaps over a week of back-to-back storms that will continue today. No major incidents were reported from the series of storms, which included a tornado warning Tuesday. A tornado didn’t materialize in Laguna, but one catapulted a catamaran into the air in Huntington Harbor. A large eucalyptus tree fell onto South Coast Highway near the Montage Resort Tuesday and was quickly cleared away by a cutting crew. Children at Anneliese’s School on Laguna Canyon Road were evacuated Tuesday as a bridge began to overflow and school was called off for the rest of the week, police said.

The historic Laguna “L” has been given a new lease on life. Derek Ostensen, a 26-year resident, took a Saturday afternoon to restore the site. The “L,” located on one of the city’s most prominent hillsides, has been in existence since the 1930s. Originally made of painted rocks, the “L” is now fashioned out of white vinyl pads. Recently, the “L” had suffered from serious vandalism and graffiti. In response, a number of community members, including some who remembered the icon from long ago, called for it to be restored.

A new hilltop road to facilitate the development of four homes in South Laguna has been recommended unanimously by the Laguna Beach Planning Commission. The recommended access road off Ceanothus Drive is considered a better way to go than an original proposal for driveways off the beleaguered, winding roadway, commissioners agreed. It also means that instead of five homes, only four will be built. “No one was happy, but the closest neighbors thought it was a better solution,” Planning Commissioner Anne Johnson said of the March 12 vote.

Ceanothus Drive in South Laguna could be extended by 400 feet under a proposal to provide access for a four-home development in the hillside area abutting a wilderness park. Laguna Beach planners intend to adopt a Mitigated Negative Declaration of environmental impact for the road extension. The public comment period ends Thursday. A Mitigated Negative Declaration finding would mean the proposed development would not require a full environmental impact report. If approved, the project would extend the road 400 feet through hillside to reach five buildable lots — that may be combined into four — owned by Santa Monica-based company Coast Royale LLC. A Negative Declaration from the city would mean there is no negative impact on the surrounding land.

Restoration of Bluebird Canyon was completed this year, but the story isn’t over. The city’s response to the June 1, 2005, landslide defines Laguna Beach in the eyes of the residents as a community that knows how to cope with disaster and cares for its own. Private donations flooded in to help the victims and a voter-approved temporary sales tax helped fund the restoration of the hillside, the utilities and Flamingo Road, while city...

The city celebrated the community spirit that was the foundation for the massive Bluebird Canyon restoration and the reconstruction of Flamingo Road and utilities Saturday. About 250 people attended the ribbon-cutting ceremony on the rebuilt Flamingo Road. The enthusiastic throng included city officials, representatives of state and federal officials; folks who donated time, money and goods to the landslide victims; voters who approved a half-cent sales tax increase to help finance the restoration; workers, planners and overseers of the project; and the slide victims.