Agenda packet — Laguna Beach City Council, May 5, 2026

CITY OF LAGUNA BEACH
CITY COUNCIL AGENDA
MAY 5, 2026
COUNCIL CHAMBERS – 505 FOREST AVENUE, LAGUNA BEACH, CA 92651 SPECIAL MEETING
MARK ORGILL, Mayor
HALLIE JONES, Mayor Pro Tem
SUE KEMPF, Councilmember
ALEX ROUNAGHI, Councilmember
BOB WHALEN, Councilmember
DAVE KIFF, City Manager
MEGAN GARIBALDI, City Attorney
LAURA PARISI, City Treasurer
ANN MARIE McKAY, City Clerk
LEVINE ACT DISCLOSURE: Pursuant to the Levine Act (Govt Code Section 84308), any party to a permit, license, contract, or other entitlement before the City Council is required to disclose on the record any campaign contribution, including aggregated contributions, of more than $500 commencing on January 1, 2025, made by the party or the party’s agents within the preceding 12 months to any City official.

Participants and agents are requested to make this disclosure as well. The disclosure should be made when the agenda item is called and must include the name of the party, participant, or agent, and any other person making the contribution, the name of the recipient, the amount of the contribution, and the date the contribution was made. Council Members are also required to make such disclosures and recuse themselves.

Public Participation: You may submit comments in person on any agenda item or any item not on the agenda. You may also submit written comments on any agenda item or on any item not on the agenda via mail to the City Clerk at 505 Forest Avenue, Laguna Beach, CA. 92651 or by email to [email protected]. In order to allow sufficient time for members of the City Council and staff to review and consider your written comments, written comments will be accepted for consideration up until the close of business (i.e., 5:30 p.m.) on the business day before the date on which this public meeting is scheduled. Written comments WILL NOT be read aloud during the City Council Meeting. Please note that written comments are posted on the City’s website, so do not include any personal information you do not want posted on the web. Any comments received after the deadline for submittal may not become part of the public record for that meeting. For comments submitted on a topic not on the agenda, please indicate that you would like your comments included in the official record for this meeting. 1 of 9
[email protected]. In order to allow sufficient time for members of the City Council and staff to review and consider your written comments, written comments will be accepted for consideration up until the close of business (i.e., 5:30 p.m.) on the business day before the date on which this public meeting is scheduled. Written comments WILL NOT be read aloud during the City Council Meeting. Please note that written comments are posted on the City’s website, so do not include any personal information you do not want posted on the web. Any comments received after the deadline for submittal may not become part of the public record for that meeting. For comments submitted on a topic not on the agenda, please indicate that you would like your comments included in the official record for this meeting.

Courtesy Virtual Broadcast: Please take notice that the City also plans to broadcast the meeting via the below listed mediums. These virtual broadcast mediums are also provided as a courtesy only and are not guaranteed to be technically feasible or uninterrupted. Thus, in order to guarantee livetime viewing, members of the public are encouraged to attend in person.

1. Online on the City of Laguna website: www.lagunabeachcity.net/meetings

2. Cox cable channel 852

3. Online on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCQsj8cEM7IvTH6p4uf3NUzQ A. ROLL CALL 4:00 p.m. – 4:00 PM
B. REGULAR BUSINESS. This section is for a wide variety of matters generally worthy of separate discussion such as the consideration of ordinances for introduction, resolutions, extraordinary policy and business matters, staff reports and recommendations. The presiding officer will take public comment on each Regular Business item. Each speaker shall have up to three minutes for each agendized Regular Business item, as may be shortened or extended, or a cumulative limit on the time for all public speakers may be imposed, at the discretion of the Presiding Officer. Pursuant to California Government Code section 54953(b)(3), any member of the public wishing to address the legislative body directly pursuant to California Government Code section 54954.3 may do so at each teleconference location at the time the item is considered.

1. MARINE PROTECTION AREA PETITIONS – PUBLIC PROCESS – CONSIDERATION OF CONTINUANCE FROM MAY 12TH (THIS ITEM IS NOT A DISCUSSION OR SUBSTANTIVE CONSIDERATION ON THE MERITS OF THE MPA BOUNDARIES) Recommendations:

1. Discuss and act to either continue (to a date certain) or hold a planned meeting on Tuesday, May 12, 2026 to discuss the City’s position regarding MPA regulation change petitions for the Laguna Beach State Marine Conservation Area (SMCA). This is not an item that would involve the detailed discussion of the City’s position – it is an item to determine when a position should be asserted.

C. ADJOURNMENT.

A. ROLL CALL
B. PUBLIC COMMENTS ON CLOSED SESSION AGENDA ITEMS
Public Comment can be provided on any item on the Closed Session agenda, in Council Chambers at 505 Forest Avenue, Laguna Beach, CA 92651, after the City Council roll call, then the City Council will convene in Conference Room A for the Closed Session. 1 Public Employee Performance Evaluation
Pursuant to Government Code Section 54957(b)
a. Title: Dave Kiff, City Manager
b. Title: Megan Garibaldi, City Attorney
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Public Comment can be provided on any item on the Closed Session agenda, in Council Chambers at 505 Forest Avenue, Laguna Beach, CA 92651, after the City Council roll call, then the City Council will convene in Conference Room A for the Closed Session. 1 Public Employee Performance Evaluation
Pursuant to Government Code Section 54957(b)
a. Title: Dave Kiff, City Manager
b. Title: Megan Garibaldi, City Attorney
2 Conference with Labor Negotiators
Pursuant to Government Code Section 54957.6
a. Agencydesignated representative: Mark Orgill, Mayor Unrepresented Employee: Dave Kiff, City Manager
b. Agencydesignated representative: Mark Orgill, Mayor Unrepresented Employee: Megan Garibaldi, City Attorney
C. ADJOURN TO THE SPECIAL CLOSED SESSION.

SPECIAL CLOSED SESSION
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ADA ACCOMMODATIONS
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Pursuant to the Americans with Disabilities Act, persons with a disability who require a disabilityrelated modification or accommodation in order to participate in a meeting, including auxiliary aids or services, may request such modification or accommodation from the City Clerk at (949) 4970705 (telephone) or (949) 4970771 (facsimile). Notification 48 hours prior to the meeting will enable the City to make reasonable arrangements to assure accessibility to the meeting.

COMPLIANCE WITH GOVERNMENT CODE SECTION 54957.5
********************************************************* Materials related to an item on this Agenda submitted to the City Council after distribution of the agenda packets are available for public inspection in the City Clerk's Office at 505 Forest Avenue, Laguna Beach, California, during normal business hours. 3 of 9

STAFF REPORT
Meeting Date:

May 5, 2026

BUSINESS
1 SUBJECT: MARINE PROTECTION AREA PETITIONS – PUBLIC PROCESS – CONSIDERATION OF CONTINUANCE FROM MAY 12TH (THIS ITEM IS NOT A

DISCUSSION OR SUBSTANTIVE CONSIDERATION ON THE MERITS OF THE

MPA BOUNDARIES)
RECOMMENDATION: It is recommended that the City Council:

SUMMARY OF THE MATTER
In recent months, the State of California’s Fish and Game Commission has discussed whether to modify or retain the status of various Marine Protected Areas (MPAs) across the California Coastline. Our region is affected by these discussions, which are generally framed as the consideration of MPA “petitions” which would adjust or maintain the current status of various MPAs. The Laguna Beach State Marine Conservation Area (SMCA) currently is a “no take” zone.

Petition 2023-24MPA-AM would “expand the boundaries of the Laguna Beach No-Take SMCA to apply the no-take provisions to certain areas within the Dana Point SCMA (which allows some “take”). The additional territory of the Laguna Beach SCMA would go to the southerly limits of Laguna Beach as shown in the purple/blue hashed area here:
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MARINE PROTECTION AREA PETITIONS – PUBLIC PROCESS – CONSIDERATION OF CONTINUANCE FROM MAY 12TH (THIS ITEM IS NOT A DISCUSSION OR

SUBSTANTIVE CONSIDERATION ON THE MERITS OF THE MPA BOUNDARIES) May 5, 2026

Page 2 of 2 ends

DISCUSSION
This item on this May 5 meeting is not to discuss the merits of any position taken by the City, but to consider whether the City should act on May 12, 2026 (which is prior to a planned May 19, 2026 “regional meeting” in San Clemente) in order to have the City’s comments or position formally presented at the May 19, 2026 meeting.

The meetings are intended to be opportunities for “petitioners and members of the public .. to address the Commission. No decisions will be made at the regional meetings.” City staff and Council have received input from the Environmental Sustainability Committee (ESC) as well as Petition 2023-24MPA-AM’s sponsors (Laguna Bluebelt) which seem to have different opinions.

This agenda item is not set up to discuss the different opinions, only to determine if Council wishes to discuss this in detail on May 12, 2026 or some other date.

More information about the Regional Meetings is Attachment 1.

FINANCIAL ANALYSIS
The recommended action has no financial impact to the budget.

ENVIRONMENTAL ANALYSIS
The recommended action has no environmental impact.

ATTACHMENTS

1. MPA Petitions / Commission and Public Process for Reviewing MPA Petitions Received in December 2023
Submitted By: .David A Kiff Approved: .
. Dave Kiff, City Manager
Report Prepared By: Coordinated With:

Dave Kiff, City Manager
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Laguna Beach City CouncilMay 5, 2026

Laguna Beach City Council
May 5, 2026