Why attack what makes Laguna Laguna?

The minutia of the discussion of what Village Laguna is and what it

isn’t, whether Village Laguna can be in a certain place at a certain

time, whether certain places can sell certain tickets, who’s a

political action committee and who’s not, what’s deductible and

what’s not and whether folks will be allowed the use of public

restrooms in a public park makes it evident to me that these are all

thinly veiled attempts to somehow discredited Village Laguna and to

negativity affect the Charm House Tour.

(By the way Charm House Tour ticket sales are as lively as ever.

The Laguna Charm House Tour is on Sunday, May 18 starting at noon.

Buses will be leaving from in front of the Festival of Arts grounds

just as they have for the last 23 years. Tickets are available at

eight separate outlets around town. Just look for our posters.

Tickets will be available tour day if they are not sold out.)

On the eve of Vision Laguna 2030 the city sent out a city-wide

mailer. Vision Laguna 2030 was conceived in order to create a

strategic plan for Laguna Beach for the next 30 years. In that mailer

there is a wish list that might have been crafted if such a vision

process existed in 1970. Some items on the list are the creation of a

Main Beach Park, height restrictions in Downtown and city wide, the

purchase of open space and the creation of a permanent greenbelt

surrounding Laguna Beach.

Village Laguna has championed or has been a major force in seeing

many of the items listed come to fruition because the city of Laguna

Beach didn’t have this kind of vision 30 years ago. This vision came

from grass-roots organizations manned with dedicated volunteers such

as the Laguna Greenbelt and Village Laguna. When these organizations

began they were the environmental and preservation compass in a sea

of progress for profit. Without these groups and those that followed

we would have surly become a Newport Beach or worse.

In the next 30 years Laguna could easily become a Manhattan Beach.

It takes only three votes to change many things that we now hold dear

-- height limits in Downtown, the diversity of our neighborhoods and

the preservation of views, to name a few

The next 30 years will be even more challenging than the last. And

it will take more then lip service from city commissioners and

council members to resist the pressures for more development.

Pressures that will come from not only within the city but also from

without as the surrounding areas become more densely populated. It

will take those who are truly dedicated in preserving Laguna as

Laguna -- that almost indefinable quality that makes Laguna special

and why so many of us moved here and what keeps us here.

What has also become evident during these discussions is that the

historic and present vision and goals of Village Laguna are the

antithesis of those who have been leading the “discussions.” I

shudder to think what their vision for Laguna was and is today.

We are all so fortunate that Village Laguna has been so effective

these past 33 years in the battle to preserve and enhance the unique

village character of Laguna Beach. Thank you Village Laguna.

* JOHANNA FELDER is a Laguna Beach resident, Village Laguna

member, board member of the Laguna Canyon Foundation and Trustee of

the Laguna Art Museum.