South Laguna

The South Laguna Civic Assn. is asking gardeners and those interested in the South Laguna Community Garden Park to join them at 11 a.m. Saturday at Aliso Creek Inn & Golf Course, 31106 S. Coast Hwy. The group will discuss ideas and funding to make the park permanent, according to a news release. Fundraising is already underway and donations also have been made. A no-host lunch at Ben Brown's Cafe will take place afterward. Those interested should RSVP to Tom Joliet at longbrdr@hotmail.com.

ELISABETH M. BROWN It was April ten years ago, while driving along PCH near the Lucky's, now Albertson's, shopping center, when I first noticed them -- large dark green shrubs covered with white flowers on the South Laguna hillsides. They were very showy, and I wondered about them because no other part of the Greenbelt sported white flowering shrubs at that time of year. In my typical coastal sage scrub neighborhood of Canyon Acres, the slopes were sprinkled with yellow from the flowers of the bush sunflowers.

Nearly 20 years have passed since South Laguna left its uncertain existence as a ward of Orange County and entered, instead, the warm embrace of the city of Laguna Beach. North and South were united. It has not always been a smooth alliance. For some reason, South Laguna remains terra incognita — all those tiny streets, those narrow roadways, those signs warning off anyone who even thinks of parking in front of one of those much-too-small houses; hills not easily traversed; turnarounds that leave drivers sweaty and muttering imprecations.

South Coast Medical Center has a “for sale” sign on it for the second time in three years, but hospital officials stress that the hospital will remain fully operational until it can be turned over to a new owner. Adventist Health officials announced Sept. 12 that they were no longer willing to absorb the financial losses sustained by the center and were preparing to shuck it. The announcement confirmed rumors that had bounced around town since the Laguna Beach City Council began holding closed sessions regarding the potential sale of properties with addresses that correspond to the four parcels that make up the hospital campus in South Laguna.

The 35th annual Village Laguna Charm House Tour will be held in South Laguna this year and includes six homes: three "charmers," a very contemporary home, an oceanfront home and the Rust House, where owners Paul and Jan Muñoz collaborated with architect Ted Wells, past president of the Society of Architectural Historians. The tour will be staged beginning at noon from the Rust House, which is next door to South Coast Medical Center at 31872 Coast Highway. Buses will start from the Rust House, circulate among the homes and return.

Adventist Health officials announced Friday that South Coast Medical Center is for sale. The announcement confirmed rumors that have reverberated around town since the Laguna Beach City Council began holding closed sessions a couple of weeks ago on the potential sale of the four parcels that make up the hospital campus owned by Adventist since 1998 in South Laguna. “As a system, we have carried hospitals that are experience challenging times,” said Robert G. Carman, Adventist President and chief executive officer.

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.

South Laguna customers of South Coast Water District are going to see higher bills if a proposed rate increase is adopted, as expected this month. Escalating costs of imported water supplies are the largest single factor driving the potential rate change. The district has been advised that the cost of wholesale supplies will increase more than 40% over the next 15 months, starting with a 20% jump on Sept. 1. “Reduced supplies of imported water and increased demand equals higher wholesale rates,” said Linda Homscheid, district spokeswoman.

After six months, Laguna Beach artist John Cosby will get some of his stolen paintings back.   Police have arrested two people suspected of stealing about $750,000 of paintings by Cosby in April, according to Laguna Beach Police Sgt. Darin Lenyi.   One of the stolen paintings was being sold through the Internet.    Detectives arrested Michael Alan Voss, 49, and Thomas Edward Hendricks, 55, both of  Laguna Niguel.    The pair was alleged to have been involved in the South Laguna heist of about 250 paintings from Cosby’s garage.

Interests of silent majority need to be heard Regarding the proposed view ordinance: I moved to Laguna Beach 26 years ago, lured by the overall striking beauty and nonconformity of the city. Surrounding cities, to me, were too uniform and manicured. I bought a house in South Laguna in large part because of the large pine tree in the front yard and a good view of the ocean. I think it's crazy that someone can buy a house behind me tomorrow, fully aware of my tree and its size, and demand that I remove it or prune it to roof level.

No one likes to admit they have a dark side. But like alter egos, the alleys of Laguna Beach parallel our lives. We rely on them for privacy. We use them as shortcuts. We park in them illegally. Both in residential and business areas, there are an impressive amount of alleys in Laguna - all underutilized and most in disarray. But there are some really cool ones too. With a few exceptions, almost anywhere you live in the city - north, south or downtown - you have alleys nearby.

Property owner John Meehan has submitted a construction project to the Design Review Board with no idea when it will be permitted, if ever. His plans may be thwarted depending on a decision by the California Coastal Commission. That board voted 10-2 Wednesday to hear the appeal of a City Council decision to permit the demolition of a South Laguna home and other buildings on the property owned by Meehan, preventing him from demolishing structures to make way for new construction. The commission overrode its staff recommendation that the appeal did not raise substantial issue that would warrant a de novo hearing, which would mean the inclusion of information from all previous proceedings.

The South Laguna Civic Assn. is asking gardeners and those interested in the South Laguna Community Garden Park to join them at 11 a.m. Saturday at Aliso Creek Inn & Golf Course, 31106 S. Coast Hwy. The group will discuss ideas and funding to make the park permanent, according to a news release. Fundraising is already underway and donations also have been made. A no-host lunch at Ben Brown's Cafe will take place afterward. Those interested should RSVP to Tom Joliet at longbrdr@hotmail.com.

For a town as outdoorsy and active as Laguna, there has always been a dearth of truly healthy restaurants. We have a surfeit of Mexican, Italian, pizza and burger joints, but vegetarian or raw cuisine had always been the purview of a few places like The Stand and Zinc. Not anymore. Active Culture serves some fine vegetarian bowls. Nekter raw juices just opened, and Living Juice - a locally owned, organic alternative - is set to migrate from the farmer's market to retail on Forest Avenue.

Complaints that commercial planes are flying lower over Laguna more often than in the past have been dismissed by the Federal Aviation Administration, but city officials heard differently Tuesday night. The City Council voted unanimously to appoint council members Steve Dicterow and Toni Iseman to work with the public to pressure FAA about the noise. Residents are urged to contact the FAA and to provide letters with specific instances of airplane noise impacts to the FAA and the city.

South Laguna Civic Assn. officials will host a potluck from 2 to 5 p.m. Sunday and other activities at the South Laguna Community Garden to bring attention to their efforts to buy the land. The group believes bringing folks into the garden will raise support and funding for the purchase of the two plots in the 31600 block of Coast Highway that local gardeners have tilled for three years. The asking price is almost $1 million, which does not include fees to fundraising companies and the city's development department for a conditional use permit.

South Laguna Civic Assn. won't get seed money from the city to buy community garden plots. The City Council voted 3-2 on Tuesday to deny the request by the association for $251,000 to jump-start the drive to raise almost $1 million to purchase the land that local gardeners have been tilling for the past three years. Financial uncertainty and competing requests were cited as the reasons. Councilman Kelly Boyd feared the city would dig itself into a hole if the request was approved.

The South Laguna Civic Assn. surveyed the six South Coast Water District candidates about issues pertinent to Laguna Beach, such as Aliso Creek, water recycling and the five-year Tunnel Stabilization and Sewer Pipeline Replacement Project. Laguna Beach residents don't vote in candidates due to a 1998 agreement when The Local Agency Formation Commissions consolidated water districts. Dana Point, Capistrano Beach and San Clemente residents do get to vote for the candidates, who serve a four-year term.

Zpizza is shutting its ovens at its original location in South Laguna on Tuesday, ending a 26-year run there. However, the pizza shop won't be leaving the city where it got its start, Operations Manager Summer Tarango said. Although Zpizza is leaving 30902 Coast Hwy., in seven months it plans to reopen in the same shopping center, where Animal Crackers Pet Rescue is currently located. "We're sorry to see Animal Crackers go, but we're grateful to get the spot," she said. "They do amazing work.