Surfing Soapbox: Council sucking the life right out of town

After last week’s article, “Balance of marine rules,” I have come to the conclusion that our City Council and Planning Commission have lost all objectivity and fairness.

The fact that there is any talk of surfing, kayaking, scuba diving and fishing — not to mention the peaceful act of strolling our beaches — being subject to future restrictions under the 1999 Marine Life Protection Act is frightening at best. Worse is that our council voted in favor of it 4 to 1, with only Mayor Kelly Boyd voting against it.

I thought things were bad when Councilwoman Toni Iseman suggested we begin neutering sea lions. Then came her fascination with having a sister city in France. Perhaps it started when Frisbees were outlawed?

Then it moved onto the ban on smoking. I hate cigarettes, but who is enforcing it? The police, the lifeguards — maybe it should be those who voted for the ban. But the doozy for me came when on Labor Day we tried to set up a pop-up tent that was 5 feet high and were denied because that too had been banned, but aren’t there people living in tents on Main Beach? I’ve heard of police states but never a police town. That should be the headline for Laguna Beach — America’s first police town.

If that’s not bad enough, try being in the restaurant business and dealing with the Planning Commission, who almost makes it impossible to survive under such severe restrictions. Who can forget the Roof Top debacle of a few years ago?

A restaurant like Mozambique — which seemingly does everything it can to be a good neighbor, with a shuttle service, fundraisers and community events, and signs at the entrance asking patrons to be respectful of the neighbors — can’t seem to get a fair shake. No cover charge for live acts (when other establishments can charge) and can’t serve dinner past 10 p.m.? What’s next, you can’t play rock and roll? Instead of banning everything shouldn’t our council and Planning Commission be looking for better solutions and compromises? Especially in this economic climate?

They should be working with these neighbors and businesses, instead of siding with one or the other. The simple act of banning does nothing accept take our freedom away, not to mention — again — that many of these bans are unenforceable.

Maybe we should just ban our City Council and Planning Commission.

Peace.

JAMES PRIBRAM is a Laguna Beach native, professional surfer and John Kelly Environmental Award winner. His websites include AlohaSchoolofSurfing and ECOWarrior Surf.com. He can be reached at Jamo@Aloha SchoolofSurfing.com