Houses in need of a home

Six old houses on Third Street need a new home

The City Council voted unanimously Tuesday to open a window of opportunity for potential owners to make bids on the houses that must be relocated or demolished to make way for the approved construction of the community/senior center.

“It’s move ‘em or lose ‘em,” Councilwoman Toni Iseman said.

Folks have a scant two weeks to make offers. No deadline was set to submit proposals, but the council will resume the hearing at the Dec. 5 meeting. Council agendas are published the Thursday before the meetings.

A proposal to move all six houses to the Phillips property on Canyon Acres in Laguna Canyon was tabled Tuesday to allow time for other offers to be submitted. The Phillips plan was an effort to preserve a glimpse of Laguna’s past — all six homes were built in the 1920s.

“This would bring a part of old California to Canyon Acres,” property owner Phyllis Phillps said.

However, a group of Canyon Acres residents opposed the proposal to relocate the homes on the corner of Canyon Acres Drive and Laguna Canyon Road as a symbolic historical neighborhood in their neighborhood — a nostalgic gateway to the city.

“This is not the entrance to the city; it is the entrance to our neighborhood,” said Jeff Powers, a canyon resident and former member of the Design Review Board.

Attorney Gene Gratz represented some of the Canyon Acres residents, who met after being notified of the proposal on Tuesday’ agenda.

“I would like to be part of the neighborhood discussion, but I was not invited,” Phillips said.

Gratz suggested on behalf of the neighbors that the proposed relocation should go to the Planning Commission for public review.

Iseman and Councilwoman Elizabeth Pearson-Schneider supported the Gateway concept as a way to preserve the historic homes.

Pearson-Schneider said she would have preferred to see the Senior Center built on a Glenneyre Street site where the city’s affordable housing project was constructed and to leave the Third Street neighborhood intact as affordable housing.

“I don’t think anyone here wants to see the houses destroyed — well, maybe a couple.” Pearson-Schneider said. “I am just thankful that Mrs. Phillips came forward.”

The relocation would cost the city an estimated $300,000 for moving the houses twice: first to a city-owned parcel at Big Bend, farther up the canyon, until all planning approvals were obtained and the displaced landslide families now living in mobile homes on the Phillips property have vacated the premises, and then moving them their permanent home.

“It was my suggestion that the city participate [financially] because no one would take the houses otherwise,” City Manager Ken Frank said. “At first it bothered me. Frankly, I would rather just tear them down and get the [center] project done.”

He reconciled his concerns by comparing the cost of a delay in the start of the center project with the expense of relocation.

“It’s important that the senior center get underway as soon as possible, but there are other very important capital improvements that must be done,” Laguna Beach Taxpayers Assn. President Martha Lydick said. “What’s the status on those projects, which include storm drain repairs, stair and street repair and retaining walls among others?”

Planning for the relocation is also a consideration.

The 28,000-square-foot Phillips property, while large enough to meet city standards for six single-family homes, would have to be rezoned from its current R-2 rating, which limits the number of structures on the site.

Meantime, the houses would be stored on the city-owned Big Bend parcel, which alarmed City Council members Jane Egly and Cheryl Kinsman, who feared the city might get stuck.

“We have no guarantees the houses will ever leave Big Bend,” Kinsman said. She also opined that the houses could be replicated cheaper and better.

“I respectfully disagree with Cheryl about old versus faux-old,” Iseman said.

Other offers besides the Phillips proposal have been made, but only for individual houses and only if subsidized by the city, according to Frank. The delay will allow time for more bids to be submitted.

All proposals will be subject to necessary planning approvals.

“The council will probably have a better sense of security if they know they have viable options,” Frank said.

Opposition to the Phillips proposal also came from former Mayor Ann Christoph, former Design Review Board member Linda Morgenlander and center neighbor Michael Hoag, who all want to see the homes preserved in their present location.

“I own two historic structures, and I appreciate the interest in preserving these structures,” Christoph said. “But a neighborhood has a character that cannot be duplicated.”

Christoph said she hoped the council would do what it could to preserve the neighborhood.

Hoag urged the council to keep the houses on Third Street and move the community/ senior center.

Not an option, according to retiring Mayor Steven Dicterow.

“The center is a done deal,” Dicterow said.

Submit house offers to the city manager’s office at City Hall, 505 Forest Ave. For more information, call (949) 497-0704.

QUESTION OF THE WEEK

Should the city help relocate six historic homes from Third Street? Write us at P.O. Box 248, Laguna Beach, CA, 92652, e-mail us at [email protected] or fax us at 494-8979. Please give your name and tell us your home address and phone number for verification purposes only.