Public unaware of Pottery Shack plan On...

Public unaware of Pottery Shack plan

On Tuesday June 7th another round on the Pottery Shack occurred at

the City Council meeting. For those of you who don’t know what is

being proposed let me fill you in. There was an agenda bill for

concept review with “no public noticing” presented by Toni Iseman and

Elizabeth Pearson, brought to them by Morris Skenderian. The turnout

for public comments pro and con was pretty dismal. Why? No noticing.

The owner is now offering up more parking on site underground,

[despite] his previous testimony to the council, “no one likes to

use,” but which the Village Flatlanders Neighborhood Association had

asked for on the existing portion of the lot for over one year. Why?

To supply spaces for employees and get them off the neighborhood

streets. However, the additional parking is only a bandage to the

wound of employee parking problems in the neighborhood. Why?

Because, only 10 of the newfound 40 spaces underground will

actually be for the use of the Pottery Shack. The rest will go to the

highest bidder, to make this financially feasible for Mr. Hanauer. In

other words, make a profit off of what should be employee and public

parking, already promised under the CUP. The “Sacrificial Lamb”

so-to-speak being offered up to provide the additional 10 spaces is

the historical building on the corner of Glenneyre and Brooks St. and

a 70-year-old Sycamore (native to this area). Is it worth it? The

chamber says yes.

There are others who say no. Why? This property was given it’s

parking credit reduction based on the square footage of the

historical building’s preservation, and the Heritage Committee’s

blessing on preservation. Now, Morris [Skendarian] and Joe [Hanauer]

intend to remove another 20% of the history of the Pottery Shack and

the City Council is sanctioning this. Where is their allegiance? You

figure it out.

There are other conditions that should be addressed on the new

addition proposal, and EIR, which would trigger a parking, traffic

and circulation study, hydrology, and Coastal Commission input. In

addition, committees appointed by the council such as the Heritage

Committee and the Parking, Traffic and Circulation Committee should

weigh in on this, but will they be asked, or better yet, will what

they say matter?

Again, you figure it out. I could continue on and on but the

bottom line is: Time is of the essence for approval (21 days

according to the architect) on the proposal. So, the city is willing,

under the direction of our city manager and council so far, to allow

a for-profit venture in parking to proceed with “no additional

employee parking” for our overburdened neighborhood. I hope this

small offering of information helps.

DARRYLIN GIRVIN

Laguna Beach

Iseman voting record abysmal

Anne Johnson’s defense of Toni Iseman’s record on the Coastal

Commission (“Iseman’s record is one of principle”, June 17) seems to

rely on the false assumption that criticism of Toni’s record is based

on approval of Marblehead, Bolsa Chica and Dana Strands development

projects.

While Surfrider Foundation does continue to believe that the

California Coastal Act was violated in approving a massive seawall

and destruction of Environmentally Sensitive Habitat Area at Dana

Strands and Dana Headlands, the Marblehead project was approved prior

to Toni’s tenure on the Coastal Commission and there were no votes by

the Coastal Commission on Bolsa Chica in 2004.

Toni’s Conservation Voting Chart score in 2004 of 34% was earned

by voting to support the requirements of the Coastal Act and the

recommendations of Coastal Commission staff on only 10 of 29 key

votes.

No, we don’t expect a 100% correct voting record, but we do expect

better than 34%, a standard that was surpassed by nine of the people

who served on the Coastal Commission in 2004.

Collectively, these concessions represent a “death by a thousand

cuts” for our coast. More details regarding these and other critical

Coastal Commission votes during 2004 can be found in the 2004

Conservation Voting Chart at https://www.sierraclub.org/ca /coasts/.

RICK WILSON

Laguna Beach

(Wilson is chairman of the Laguna Beach Chapter, Surfrider

Foundation.)