Road Landscaping May Have to Wait, City Told

The city staff is recommending against the immediate establishment of a beautification committee, which would be responsible for landscaping along major streets.

With Laguna Hills focusing its energy and money on a new community center over the next few years, the time for a beautification committee has not yet come, Assistant City Manager Don White said in a report to the City Council.

“It sounds like a great idea, and it’s something the city will ultimately do,” he said. “However, the budget is prioritizing the community center as the No. 1 capital project.”

With more than $10 million for road improvements in the capital improvements budget, the council had asked the staff to look into the feasibility of creating a beautification committee.

The commission would be charged with recommending landscaping changes to heavily traveled streets after the council establishes spending priorities.

“These projects are all competing for the money,” White said. “The community center has the highest priority. The beautification committee would have to come in a couple of years.”