Hillside

The city's refusal for years to approve numerous applications for a sub-division of his property stirred Gale Pike's pique, so he sued the city. Settlement of a lawsuit paved the way for a new application — although without any guarantees of approval. The planning commission reviewed at the June 11 meeting a draft environmental report prepared by a city consultant on Pike's latest proposal and found it only slightly wanting. Commissioners continued the hearing until a special meeting at 7 p.m., Sept.

CITY HALL — The City Council denied an appeal of a proposed 1,800-square-foot hillside home in Chevy Chase Canyon Tuesday, following a passionate and, at times, racially heated discussion. Glendale resident Art Simonian's proposal required a variance because of the lot's sub-standard size — more than 1,000 square feet less than the minimum 7,500 square feet the city's hillside ordinance required. The Board of Zoning Appeals granted the variance at its Feb. 6 meeting.

Video camera is returned to its owner Videographer Michael Taylor got his video camera back Tuesday, after it was taken from the hillside where it had been placed to capture time-lapse images of the work after the Bluebird Canyon landslide. Taylor thought the camera might be sold over the Internet, and he was right. But he was surprised when the Internet helped bring the camera back. After losing the $2,000 camera Dec. 15, Taylor put some lenses up for sale online to try to replace the lost equipment.

A fast-moving fire swept through a hillside home in Laguna Beach Monday morning, destroying the top floor of the three-story Temple Hills structure. It took firefighters about half an hour to douse the fire, Fire Dept. Division Chief Jeff LaTendresse said. "It got big quick, which is strange for a fire in the middle of the day," LaTendresse said. The fire was out by 11:48 a.m. Firefighters were concerned the fire could spread through the hillside area, and a fire engine was placed above the location as a precaution, LaTendresse said.

A fast-moving fire - believed to have been caused by a gas heater - swept through a hillside home in Laguna Beach Monday morning, destroying the top floor of the three-story Temple Hills structure. It took firefighters about half an hour to douse the fire, Fire Dept. Division Chief Jeff LaTendresse said. "It got big quick, which is strange for a fire in the middle of the day," LaTendresse said. The fire was out by 11:48 a.m. Firefighters were concerned the fire could spread through the hillside area, and a fire engine was placed above the location as a precaution, LaTendresse said.

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 of off Ceanothus Drive is considered a better way to go than an original proposal for driveways off of 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.

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.

View and open space preservation dominated the questions at a City Council candidate forum, presented Monday by two hillside neighborhoods near wild lands. Top of the World and Temple Hills neighborhood associations hosted the meeting in the City Council chambers. The forum was the last of seven for this election. Residents had the opportunity to grill tavern owner Kelly Boyd, retired City Clerk Verna Rollinger and incumbents Toni Iseman and Elizabeth Pearson-Schneider. Three of the four candidates have special ties to one or the other of the two neighborhoods: Rollinger is a member of the Temple Hills association, Pearson-Schneider moved to Top of the World last year from North Laguna and Boyd used to live in the Rimrock Canyon area.