To preserve and enhance the unique village character of Laguna Beach P. O. Box 1309 Laguna Beach, California 92652 villagelaguna.org Mayor Orgill and City Council Members,
Village Laguna strongly opposes a 152% increase in DRB appeal fees. While we recognize the City’s need to manage a growing workload and achieve cost recovery, this specific increase creates a "pay-to-play" barrier that excludes a significant portion of our residents from the civic process.
This increase is essentially silencing the community.
Our unique, non-tract topography, unlike standard suburbs, rely on delicate balances of view corridors, privacy, and neighborhood compatibility. When the cost of an appeal becomes prohibitive, the City essentially grants a "blank check" to those who can afford the development process, while stripping impacted neighbors of their right to be heard. Accountability should not be a luxury item.
Our suggested solution is to put the burden back to the applicant vs the staff as this City once did.
Reducing Workload via Efficiency, Not Exclusion Rather than pricing out the public to reduce the volume of appeals, the City should focus on reducing the friction that leads to appeals in the first place. We urge the City to consider the following workload-reduction strategies:
• Pre-Check & Tiered Review: Implement multiple mandatory "Pre-Application Neighborhood Meeting" for projects. Many appeals stem from neighbors feeling "blindsided." Resolving privacy and view issues before a formal staff report is written and before DRB hearing to reduce staff time spent on contentious public hearings and subsequent appeals. Require a minimum of 3 residential meetings before DRB and have applicant point out the neighbor’s issues and concerns to staff and put the burden back to applicant to work out or compromise the issues before DRB. Have the applicant prove that they reached a compromise.
• Digital Simulation Requirements & Neighborhood Meetings: Require applicants to provide 3D digital overlays in addition to "story poles" early in the process. • Fee Waivers for "long term, year round residents": If the City insists on a fee increase, the fee should be waived for residents who actually reside in the City year round vs these second and third out of area homeowners. No resident should be denied their right to protect their home’s value and privacy simply because they cannot afford a multi-thousand-dollar filing fee.
If the fee is increased, then it only warrants an increased amount of time for the appellant to present their case – they should be allowed 20 minutes just as the applicant did so at DRB and allow questions and answers involving the appellant.
A 152% fee increase is not a "balancing of the budget"; it is an erosion of community trust. We ask the City to seek cost recovery through operational efficiency and applicant-side processing fees rather than penalizing the neighbors who make Laguna Beach a vibrant, protected community.
Respectfully,
Merrill Anderson, Presiden