Laguna council agrees to resident’s ideas for fixing beach stairs and keeping the views
The stairs leading to the beach at Agate Street in Laguna Beach were damaged by large waves and high tide and have been shut since 2015.
You can fight City Hall, contrary to the oft-repeated axiom. Just ask Peter Mann.
The Laguna Beach City Council agreed Tuesday to changes suggested by Mann regarding the city’s plan to replace the concrete stairs at Agate Street, which lead to one of the area’s prime surf spots.
The council unanimously granted the Laguna resident’s appeal, which includes a request to raise a lookout area where people currently can sit on a wooden bench and view a rock outcropping with a hollowed-out arch toward the south. Raising the area would avoid the scenery spoiler, the roof of a nearby home.
Mann was concerned that views would be jeopardized under the plan approved in September by the city’s Design Review Board, because the lookout area would have been lowered by 6 inches as part of an overall redesign to meet Americans With Disabilities Act requirements.
Designers need to study the area to determine how much the ground needs to be raised, public works project director Wade Brown wrote in an email. The city believes that ADA compliance can still be achieved with the changes.
The city said it needs to replace the deteriorating stairs, which crisscross the bluff as they descend to the shoreline, because they aren’t safe.
Two asphalt paths currently lead to the bench area. Under the city proposal, the paths, which are not in compliance with the ADA, would have been removed. But the council asked for one path so people in wheelchairs could still access the site.
Council members also directed city staff to find a location for a bench that could sit at least two people on a landing area closer to the sand instead of inserting a seat button, which would accommodate only one person.
The proposed changes could add $200,000 to the $750,000 budget, Brown told the council.
Twitter: @AldertonBryce
