Reeling from the impacts of visitors not obeying Laguna Beach laws and a perceived general disrespect of the town and its environment, the City Council has formed a committee to “surge plan” for next summer, when they hope to shift how people treat the town’s beaches and neighborhoods.
The newly created Laguna Beach Stewardship and Visitor Impact Committee – led by Mayor Sue Kempf and Councilmember Mark Orgill – will work with the city’s visitor bureau, longstanding local environmental nonprofits, local hotel managers, business owners and representatives from the popular art festivals to develop a plan to boost visitors’ awareness of the town’s art heritage, environmental focus and overall way of life.
“We want to position the town with a message that reflects who we are and an appreciation for our environment and our community heritage,” Kempf said. “We want people to know we are a very special place. We welcome visitors, but please respect our town.”
The committee will take a two-step approach and work on its action plan over the next few months, officials said. The goal is to prepare the community for next summer’s anticipated impacts. The committee will also examine funding and ensure the city is ready with additional staffing or services it might need.
Kempf said while longer term the approach will be to work with Visit Laguna and other partners, the more immediate first part of the plan will address the “tactical issues” that impact residents.
“We’ll plan the budget around the summer surge,” she said. “That means adding more parking and having a discussion with the California Coastal Commission about that.”
She said another concept is outsourcing the administration of parking tickets. The city will also address other quality-of-life issues, such as changing when and where public trash cans are emptied, depending on when the need is the greatest.
“I’m optimistic,” Kempf said. “We’ve never done surge planning before.”
The committee’s formation was prompted by weeks of complaints this summer from residents who say beachgoers show tremendous disrespect, negatively impacting their neighborhoods, especially those in South Laguna and the midtown HIP District.
For weeks now, City Hall has heard from enraged residents who feel their town is overrun. Public drunkenness is common. So is people relieving themselves in public, residents complain. Parking, traffic and jaywalking are creating dangerous conditions, as are the number of people packing beaches, officials have said.
Two weeks ago, the city launched a Google ad campaign to reinforce what is and isn’t allowed in Laguna Beach.
The ads, which are planted to appear during social media searches of the city, highlight local laws such as no smoking, no single-use plastics, no balloons and no tents on beaches or in parks. Kempf said their purpose is to generate greater awareness of problems with public drunkenness, littering, illegal parking, and just plain rude behavior.
Kempf said the ad campaign has received more than 500,000 impressions in just the last two weeks. The Police Department’s Park Ranger program has also focused on the town’s beaches and parks to reinforce the advertising, said Lt. Jason Farris.
For the remaining weeks of summer, the city has also worked on stepping up enforcement, including citing loud vehicles, speeding, unsafe turns and efforts to identify drunk drivers.
There is also a crackdown on illegal parking, where a ticket can cost between $72 to $100.
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