Mailbag: City must be proactive with fire prevention
I have lived in the Top of the World area for 35 years. One of the most traumatic events of my life is when I had to evacuate my home during the devastating 1993 fire. That event left me psychologically scarred and hyper-aware of the possibility of something like that happening again.
The severe drought conditions this year, and the recent fires in San Diego County, have only served to heighten my anxiety.
To add to my deep concerns is evidence that folks are smoking in and around the Carolyn Wood water tank at the end of Alta Laguna Boulevard — a space designated as a no smoking area. I hike three days a week, trekking out over that water tank and onto West Ridge Trail.
Every time, I pick up at least 10 to 15 cigarette butts strewn about the ground. I even find butts a couple of miles out on the trail. Alarm and anger would understate my reaction — words like fear and disgust need to be added to that mix. Which leads me to a question: Is the primary mission of the city of Laguna Beach, and its fire and police departments, to suppress fires after they’ve started or is it to prevent them from happening in the first place?
From my observations, it appears to be more of the former. Case in point: Recently, the city posted placards announcing a $1,000 fine for smoking in the wilderness areas.
All well and good but these flimsy cardboard signs were mounted on wooden stakes and haphazardly pounded into the ground. Within days, most of these signs were no longer in evidence, and they weren’t replaced.
Signs alone will not deter smokers. I strongly urge the city to take a far more proactive stance. During the high fire danger season, especially when red flag conditions have been declared, there needs to be fire and law enforcement personnel in plain sight to serve as a visual deterrent.
And the officers should not be reticent to issue a citation when an offender is observed smoking in a restricted area. A warning in such cases will not send a strong enough message. This is not a time to exercise restraint in the interest of promoting a friendly-place-to-visit image for the city.
This needs to be a community that is known for being tough on smokers who do not obey the law. Having the town nearly burn down again because of a passive response to this very real threat is irresponsible and indefensible.
Jerry King
Laguna Beach
*
Property views are an asset to everyone
The Laguna Beach City Council held a meeting recently to present and discuss its latest version of a badly needed View Preservation Restoration ordinance.
The meeting was well attended, mostly by residents who have had their precious view sheds destroyed by neighbors with overgrown vegetation. A show of hands, called for by Mayor Elizabeth Pearson, showed that nobody in the audience supported this version of the ordinance, but another show of hands disclosed that almost everyone wanted a better View Ordinance.
The proposed ordinance had some good features but is far too complex and costly for the average resident to use. Fortunately, most City Council members recognized the excessive costs for both the city and residents and are taking corrective action.
It is obvious that a lot of the anticipated costs are due to the unnecessary complexity of the ordinance involving special city employees and outside specialists to evaluate the offending vegetation.
I summarized my comments by stating the ordinance does not have to be so complex and require special people. Any person with reasonable common sense can visit a home suffering with lost views and within a few minutes determine the extent of the view blockage and recommend what needs to be done to the excessive vegetation to restore the lost views.
I noted that the city has been losing a lot of property tax money for many years by having property that used to have a view sold for anywhere from $5,000 to $100,000 less than it would have sold for if the views had not been destroyed.
If you question that, just look at the real estate ads. If the subject property has a view, it is the first thing mentioned in the ad. Homes with views increase the property value of the entire neighborhood, even if some homes don’t have a view of their own.
Dave Connell
Laguna Beach
*
Marine protection officer has important role
Our thanks to Laguna’s City Council for voting to restore the position of marine protection officer to full-time during its annual budget review. Working with the community, a full-time marine officer can make a real difference.
Laguna can be overwhelmed with visitors who often, innocently enough, damage and harm our marine resources. A trained officer can interact in a positive way with our visitors and at the same time enforce our city’s regulations geared to marine-life preservation.
On behalf of all the organizations in the Laguna Bluebelt Coalition, thank you.
Jinger Wallace
Laguna Bluebelt Coalition
*
Columnist divides Laguna Beach
Do you honestly believe that columnist David Hansen is an asset to your newspaper? He does not represent the community. His rants are intended to divide and the Coastline Pilot provides him a forum to vent his targeted anger. You can do much better.
Randy Hunt
Laguna Beach
*
Keep animals safe on holiday
The Animal Assistance League would like to make the Fourth of July a safe holiday for pets.
This is the time of year when most animals are lost, injured or killed in traffic as they try to get away from the noise caused by fireworks. Responsible pet owners should keep their pets away from the sound. Tranquilizers prescribed by a veterinarian have proved helpful to many pets. People should not set off fireworks, even caps, near pets.
Shelters become crowded at this time of year, and many of these pets never make it back home. Many dogs and cats entering shelters have no identification. Having good identification on all of our pets would lower the euthanasia rate at shelters, and there would be a better chance of more facilities becoming no-kill shelters.
It is important to have current license and identification tags bearing more than one phone number on pets at all times. A registered microchip is added safety; the device doesn’t come off, and it allows animal control, shelters and veterinarians to scan the animal for owner verification.
Let’s celebrate the Fourth of July without creating a disaster for our pets.
Leila Nelson
Midway City
The writer is a representative from the Animal Assistance League of Orange County.