We don’t know the statistics, so we will do the next best thing – guess. A lot of artists live in Laguna Canyon, proportionally speaking.
They huddle in makeshift communities, capitalize on liberal mixed-use zoning, bunk up as needed, and generally try to make ends meet in a very expensive Laguna Beach housing market.
To that end, artist and Planning Commissioner Jorg Dubin sees an opportunity to help his fellow compatriots by proposing a new public-private partnership for artists. The City Council started talking about the issue on April 4 and will research a range of options over the next couple months.
Specifically, there are two properties that might soon be available, 2307 and 2535 Laguna Canyon Road. Both are in light industrial zones and include about 20 artists, such as photographers, painters, wood workers, crafters and several sculptors.
The properties were built and are owned by George Burkhardt, a longtime Laguna resident who is now in his late ‘80s. His family had previously said they would protect the properties, according to Dubin, but there are rumors that that might change.
“Properties like this don’t come up in the market very often, and I’m just concerned that some corporate investment firm would come along and snap them up, repaint the buildings, and tell everyone their rent has doubled,” Dubin said.
City Councilmembers Alex Rounaghi and Mark Orgill believe Dubin has a point. In a joint agenda brief, they said it’s worth investigating the issue.
“Laguna Beach is an art colony; it is who we are,” they wrote. “However, rising housing costs have pushed artists out of our community. For years, we have talked about and studied this problem, but no action has been taken.”
As a result, Dubin believes there could be workable options.
“I’m trying to come up preemptively with a creative solution that satisfies the family trust and keeps these complexes in the hands of either a non-profit or public-private partnership or something like that,” he said.
Dubin has watched with dismay as artists have left Laguna because of the untenable rents.
“The creative community brings a lot of soul to the city. But we’ve been losing that for years,” he said. “If we’re really serious about retaining artists in Laguna, then this is a perfect opportunity.”
