Mailbag: Vacationers have their zoned place

The marketing name for it is the “sharing economy,” but a popular country song from a few years back (about a cowboy’s divorce) better describes just how the sharing economy works when it comes to controversial short-term transient rentals like Airbnb, VRBO and others.

The song is “She got the Goldmine, I got the Shaft” and while the whole issue of whether putting up a parade of total strangers under your roof is really a goldmine is another topic, the song title describes how the “sharing” part may not be so fair.

In the case of the people operating unregulated, unpermitted short term rentals, while the profit may go to the person hosting the transients, many of the costs and impacts go to the immediate neighbors and to the rest of us in the city. And it’s the neighbors and the rest of the city that get the second part of the song title.

While I’m sure there are perfectly nice, considerate folks who visit Laguna and pay to stay a few days in someone else’s home, there are also plenty who are here to party hardy and are less concerned about the fact that the neighbors may want to get a good night’s sleep because they have to get up in the morning and go to work or would like their baby to be able to sleep through the night. Or that the permanent, taxpaying neighbors may not appreciate the visitor’s innovative parking solutions, taste in music or less-than-artistic beer can arrangements on the front lawn.

With 1,300 perfectly acceptable hotel rooms, Laguna has a long tradition of hosting paying guests, but over time, the best locations for visitors have been figured out and institutionalized with those pesky restrictions called zoning.

John Thomas

Laguna Beach

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Parklets won’t benefit our residents

This letter was also sent to the City Council

On June 16, the City Council unanimously approved two parklets proposed by the Laguna Beach Downtown Specific Plan consultant over the objections of nearly everyone who spoke on this agenda item.

The council’s original plan to identify locations downtown to foster small, informal community gatherings was a good one. What you ended up approving was turning over our street parking spaces to four restaurants and/or bars, for their exclusive use.

This proposal is unfair to our other businesses. It also takes away public parking with no benefit to the public in return. If you ask restaurants to invest in the construction of these venues, they will push to make them permanent. Sometimes a good intention can take a wrong turn. It is our retail shops, not our restaurants and bars that could use some support.

Village Laguna suggests a reevaluation of this proposal. The city needs to craft a proposal that benefits our residents and retail establishments. Other cities have done it. We can too.

Johanna Felder

President, Village Laguna

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American Legion thanks the Pageant

Our big thanks go to Lucia McLeod and the Board of the Festival of Arts for providing a wonderful evening at the world-famous Pageant of the Masters for 100 veterans and their support staff on July 13.

This year, the Laguna Beach American Legion Post invited military veterans from the Long Beach, Loma Linda and San Diego veterans hospitals and from the Barstow Veterans’ Home to attend the famous Pageant of the Masters. Our fellow veterans never fail to be amazed and appreciative of this special Laguna Beach hospitality. Thanks so much.

Richard Moore

Commander, American Legion Post 222

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Haggen hasn’t lived up to its promises

The national media has been widely reporting that Albertsons is suing Haggen, accusing the grocer of fraud in failing to pay more that $36 million as part of the sale of 146 grocery stores.

One of those stores is in Laguna Beach. When Haggen came to Laguna, it promised “lower prices and superior service,” neither of which has come to fruition.

After four months in Laguna Beach, despite disavowal from Haggen, prices at Ralphs for the same items remain consistently lower. Perhaps Laguna residents should consider filing a lawsuit of their own.

Randy Lewis

Laguna Beach

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