You probably didn’t go to the special Laguna Beach Planning Commission meeting last week. We didn’t either but we did watch the replay, which makes us sound even more lame.
But there was an interesting issue on the agenda: affordable housing. Now before you stop reading, consider this. The state has mandated that Laguna Beach provide 394 new homes with half of those low income.
That may or may not happen, of course, unless we annex say … Laguna Woods. But we’ve been wrong before.
Our question is, where is Jimmy Carter when you need him?
There are good people on a housing committee desperately trying to figure this out, and they have a draft plan. Over the next several months, keep your eye on this one because it could get interesting. Hopefully, Laguna’s NIMBYs won’t screw it up.
For example, the experts have mapped out some possible locations for a housing complex:
None of the commissioners really liked the dog park idea, but at this stage they’re just trying to evaluate the city’s options.
Let’s be clear: Affordable housing in Laguna has to happen somehow – and it will … probably, maybe. There’s time, sites and incentive.
But here’s the real rub: To meet these state numbers, affordable housing can’t happen in Laguna unless there’s new parking – lots of it.
And, of course, we know what that means.
Planning Commissioner Jorg Dubin put it this way during the meeting, trying to keep a straight face, “Parking has been an issue since the beginning of time,” he said.
Which means affordable housing in Laguna Beach is about to get biblical.
