Dog owners should know better I have...

Dog owners should know better

I have read two articles recently in our local papers praising the

efforts of the dog owners and their increased inclination to pick up

Fido’s waste.

My wife and I are longtime Laguna residents with three sons, all

under the age of 10, who visit our Laguna parks almost twice daily

and have considered this subject (as dreadful as it is) frequently.

I was encouraged to hear that less waste was “left behind� by the

dog owners in 2003, as it shows the efforts by many are improving.

According to the numbers, about 200 pounds were cleaned up by a

contracted city crew. I truly believe this is a fraction of what is

actually left behind thanks to other people and parents who

proactively pick up the waste to avoid kids slipping in it or worse.

We have a real problem that still exists and that can only be

truly wiped out if the offenders are treated in a manner that lets

them know it is offensive and dangerous to others. Incidentally, I

think I could have filled a Dewey dumpster with dog waste last

Saturday at Moulton Meadows alone.

Who are these people that own dogs that look the other way and act

as if it’s not their problem? It’s your dog, you signed up for the

program when you took that great little pup home. Almost every dog

owner I’ve met in my life likes to be thought of as a caring person,

conscientious toward not only humans but also to furry friends.

Owning a dog shows they not only can handle the affairs of themselves

and the other humans in their lives, but also they can bring joy to

others species. I have found this to be true typically. So what gives

with the heavy poundage?

News flash: Not picking up your dogs waste should be fined and

enforced.

People should feel guilty if they leave the scene of this stinky

little crime. I’d like to know how many citations were written (if

any) for this offense last year. We might be onto a last-minute way

to close that city budget gap after all. Some simple math: 1,000

pounds times $150 per citation equals $15,000. Sounds fair

considering what a visit to South Coast Medical Center for my

2-year-old George might cost if he got sick from being curious.

More realistically we should just politely remind one another if

we have a lapse in our doggie duties. Something to the effect of,

“Excuse me but did you need a bag?�

People should feel a strong sense of embarrassment when they walk

away from a public place without acknowledging a simple but very

important responsibility of dog ownership.

Memo to all Laguna Beach visitors and residents: Please do not

leave your dogs waste on any public surface.

Next weeks topic: Flicking lighted cigarettes.

CHRIS WILLIAMS

Laguna Beach

City budget isn’t as dire as officials say

It is not appropriate to mislead the public about the financial

condition of the city of Laguna Beach. Mayor Cheryl Kinsman should

not be disparaging Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger creating the verb

“Arnolded� referring to what he is doing to the city in his efforts

to solve the budget mess created under former Gov. Gray Davis.

If Schwarzenegger’s proposal is implemented, property taxes

amounting to about $500,000 a year would be diverted to the state of

California instead of the city. However, if present trends continue,

the city’s property taxes will increase by 10% or about $1 million

and sales tax by 12% or over $300,000. Just considering these two

sources of funds, the city, after the governor’s proposal, would have

about $800,000 in extra revenue to spend.

Although complex, the City Council members need to spend the time

to evaluate and understand the city finances.

It would certainly be better if city revenue went up $1.3 million

instead of $800,000. Nonetheless, claiming that the city is in

financial dire straights is inappropriate and the citizens of Laguna

Beach deserve better.

GENE FELDER

Laguna Beach

Santa is the celebrity of Hospitality Night

Now that angry merchants are circling the wagons to defend their

questionable business practices during Hospitality Night, a few

obvious points need to be made to keep things in the proper

perspective. The festive spirit readily apparent during this annual

event rests on Santa Claus and his arrival plus the attendant street

music. This is what brings out the throngs of kids and their

families.

Hennessey’s is turned into a day care center. All this leads to

social banter among the residents as they renew and make new

friendships. If this was missing and all we had were open stores

there would be very little seasonal joy.

It grew out of a need to publicly gather and celebrate our special

kind of village life. The merchants can either participate in a

support role to enhance the celebration by providing symbolic

refreshments (Areo is a good example; there were greeters at the door

offering tasty goodies and a nearby in-house Santa conversed with

children) or they can use the moment as a marketing device to only

extend business hours and freely benefit from the good will of the

others.

I won’t name the Scrooges you know who you are. (They are surely

the same ones who blocked the Rotarians’ charity bicycle race to

fatten their own profits). But remember, you don’t want to be in the

loss column on Santa’s list.

Given the greater importance of most other socioeconomic issues

this is of minor importance, it’s a local affair. But it is

symptomatic of a disappearing way of life, one that took pride in

extolling humanism over capitalism.

Laguna is a life style, not a cash cow. Since, unfortunately, the

business of America is business, there ought to be a couple of stress

free moments set aside when the bottom line takes a holiday -- a time

to reflect on why we came here in the first place.

GENE COOPER

Laguna Beach

Athens will make Driftwood worse

I am extremely angered to hear that the Athens group is now

interested in taking over the development of Driftwood Estates. The

developer who spent years working with community groups and the city

has now pulled out (or more likely, been paid off by Athens) and the

property owner is shopping for a new developer.

This is completely unacceptable and represents a clear and

reproachable betrayal of the public’s trust. It is ridiculous for us

to spend months and years working with a developer to try and forge a

compromise that allows us to try and maintain our quality of life,

only to be left with nothing but a new developer, with new demands --

perhaps even a new project.

Just imagine if you were faced with three years of dump trucks

driving past your home, hammers pounding away at 7 a.m. and

construction litter polluting your streets -- yet after all your hard

work trying to mitigate these issues, the developer just pulls out

(or sells out) and the neighborhood bully, the Athens group, steps

in.

We never wanted Driftwood Estates in our neighborhood, but seeing

how pro-development the council majority is, we worked hard on a

compromise with the developer and architect.

I’m glad Highpointe Communities is gone, their desire (along with

that of Morris Skenderian) to build 8,000-square-foot mansions in an

area of 1,500-square-foot cottages was ridiculously out of touch with

Laguna. However, perhaps in this situation, I’d rather have the

lesser of two evils. No one could possibly be more damaging to our

neighborhood than the Athens group.

Already we are faced with Montage employees parking all over the

street. There is a hideous car park along Coast Highway that was

never supposed to be there, which Montage is now trying to make

permanent. Treasure Island Park wound up costing the city $9 million

instead of $2 million. And now the Athens group is interested in

developing a neighborhood? No way.

Athens, you have consistently betrayed Laguna’s trust and you do

not belong in our neighborhoods.

BILL WAITE

Laguna Beach

Talk of Subway flies in face of city’s values

Most Laguna residents would agree that boring, soulless franchise

stores are out of place in Laguna. We greatly prefer our quaint

independent stores, our small boutiques, our friendly bakeries, our

cozy bookstore. When faced with the choice to build a large, bland

franchise store, found in nearly every other town in America, or an

independent store, the choice is obvious to us.

Over the years, we have created zoning and parking ordinances that

favor independent stores. Through these ordinances, our Downtown has

been mostly protected. Yes, there are unfortunate exceptions many of

us wish would depart -- Banana Republic for example. However, Laguna

continues to be a quaint village.

The choice of whether or not to build a large Subway store on

Broadway seemed obvious to many. And beyond all the relevant talk

about homogenous formulas, bad food and dangerous precedents, the

disparity between Laguna’s spirit and that of franchise stores was

comically summed up in the need for the Subway owner to “receive

special permission to toast.�

Laguna is an independent place, a different place by virtue of

those who have fought to protect it. We enjoy one of the few

greenbelts in Southern California, three incredible independent art

festivals, pristine beaches and public parks. These virtues exist

because we have created and preserved them. Organizations like

Village Laguna, South Laguna Civic and Laguna Greenbelt have done

immeasurable work to make Laguna what it is today.

Councilwoman Elizabeth Pearson’s attempt to change the parking

ordinances to accommodate franchise stores is disrespectful to our

clear community consensus against Subway and stores of its type. That

she had the gall, amid tremendous public opposition, to publicly

invite Subway to apply again for a permit is seriously troubling. As

a council member, she is supposed to represent her constituents. In

this case, she clearly is not.

SANDRA THOMPSON

Laguna Beach

Stop the jet noise now

The City Council has requested that the FAA impose a 7,000 foot

minimum altitude on all jets as they reenter land space at the

coastline following their take-offs at John Wayne Airport.

Presently their altitudes are far less and the noise factor is a

danger to the property values and quality of life to those of us who

are under their departure patterns. More flights are being added at

John Wayne, and even more are planned for the future, so this issue

will become even worse to us in Laguna Beach.

I am starting a campaign to get everyone that I know to e-mail our

elected officials in Washington D.C. about this issue. There is power

in numbers and the bureaucrats only understand numbers. Lagunans must

be heard by the bureaucrats in the FAA in order to get any change.

I urge everyone to e-mail one or all of our elected

representatives to let them know that we want change and that the

noise and pollution must stop. The FAA must realize that they must

regulate for the benefit of the people as well as for the airline

industry. Collectively, we can force a change.

DON KNAPP

Laguna Beach

Housing artists is worthy cause

A friend of mine called me a few days ago to say that after 18

years in the same house that he had to find another living space --

it seems his landlady had passed away and her son and the new owner

wanted to live in the house.

Well, one might say that after all it does belong to the

landlord’s son now and this is true. I’d like to add that while this

professional artist lived in this house he replaced the entire roof,

built a new front porch (as other one was falling down) fixed

everything else that ever went wrong there and landscaped the whole

yard. I’m sure he did all this not only because he was handy and to

help out the landlady, but to keep the rent nominal.

My point being that this Laguna person is facing having to move

from his home of 27 years, and I might add that this person has been

active in the Art Colony and this community, done much to eliminate

the suffering and problems of many fellow artists and is an asset to

Laguna.

I find it troubling that patriots are being forced to pack up and

leave -- aren’t the artists what help attracts tourists, money and

fame to our city?

My husband and I are landlords. We rent to a fine artist, also a

fine person, at a rate below the going price. I am hoping that others

might consider the losses that are becoming standard with affordable

rentals that are available. Surely there are those who feel as we do

that a good tenant, and the artists that make Laguna so special are

worth keeping here where they belong.

If there is anyone out there who has a place and who loves the

arts of Laguna, give me a call and I’ll set up a meeting with this

person in need of a place.

P.S. Our rental has ocean views, a washer dryer and is minutes

from Downtown (before someone thinks it is less than worthy).

ANNE ENGLAND

Laguna Beach

* To reach Anne England, contact the Coastline Pilot.

Proper sewers is boon for everyone

They say the first maxim in real estate is “location, location,

location.� In Laguna Beach, this is a given, at least if the

vociferous Realtors who spoke before City Council about private sewer

laterals are any indication.

Now it’s “commission, commission, commission,� and in their

illogical plaintive rhetoric they alluded to themselves as potential

“victims,� at the same time threatening the city with vaguely-defined

future litigation.

True salespeople, they greedily worked both sides of the same

metaphorical street, refusing to admit that the proposed ordinance is

a logical extension of the California Real Estate Disclosure Act of

1987. The hysterical part is that the money to repair or replace

faulty laterals would come out of the pockets of the buyer, seller or

some combination thereof, not theirs.

The genesis of this dispute ironically begins in the same year, as

the first National Pollution Discharge Elimination System permit

pertaining to discharges of waste to surface waters was issued in

California. Permit holders like Laguna Beach are subject to extensive

sanctions if they fail to remedy health and safety failures.

Obviously raw sewage rolling down our streets from root-blocked

private laterals qualifies. We are bound to track and eliminate the

sources of contamination.

In the case of real estate, there have been numerous challenges

(few successful) because anything that holds up or increases the

complexity of escrow is seen as obstructionist or a nuisance. So what

if someone challenged the state board to mandate the following in

places like Laguna Beach: Creek mouths similar to Aliso are highly

contaminated. Shouldn’t agents in Laguna Beach counsel prospective

sellers in the vicinity to officially disclose this in writing? The

seller, his agent and the brokerage are bound by law under penalty of

actionable fraud. Ever heard of anyone admitting this material fact

affecting the desirability or value of property near Aliso?

After almost 10 years of article after article, innumerable

letters to the editor, public demonstrations and lawsuits by

environmentalists, Laguna Beach city workshops and outreach, plus TV

newscasts broadcasting loud and clear our distressing state of

affairs we find out that some realtors only read their bank

statements. Were you deaf when one of your own, broker and Councilman

Wayne Baglin, began warning all of us in 1995?

Hopefully, they are in a minority, but for those who whined and

complained, have you been under a rock this past decade? Who hasn’t

seen a beach closure or warning sign regarding sewage spills? Who is

going to rectify this? Is it our fault that like rabbits they’ve

overpopulated and now tussle and claw like starving hyenas for

listings plus commissions? Isn’t a pristine environment part and

parcel of what’s being sold?

Has everyone forgotten that the proposed $240,000 Assessed Civil

Liability by the State Board in June 2000, finally settled for

$60,000, will be “chump change� compared to what the U.S.

Environmental Protection Agency can decree? The City Council is

responding to a clear and present danger. Moving slowly is not an

option. Shooting the messengers, that is groups like Clean Water Now!

Coalition and Surfrider is immature.

And when we’re fined again and it makes national news, just how

much will property be worth here? Laguna Beach has become a cash cow,

with property values estimated to have risen more than 20% per year

this past five years. The state of our wastewater systems is a series

of ongoing calamities which do not need the distraction of selfish,

“what’s in it for me� personality types. In this matter, you’re

either on the bus or off the bus. Non-riders, lacking a community

sense of ethics and pride, should move somewhere else.

ROGER VON BUTOW

Clean Water Now! Coalition

Laguna Beach

If you would like to submit a letter to the Coastline Pilot, write

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