After-Fourth beach cleanup planned

The Clean Water Now! Coalition will host its Summer Quarter beach

cleanup from 9 a.m. to noon on Saturday.

The city-wide cleanup is scheduled to remove debris after the

heavily trafficked Fourth of July weekend.

The Clean Water Now! Coalition is completing its fifth year as

local administrator in this “Adopt-a-Beach” event for the California

Coastal Commission.

Participants will receive free all-day parking certificates, and

bags for nonorganic trash pickup, gloves, tide-pool literature, and

other ocean-related brochures will be available.

The program will provide community service hours for youth groups.

The project headquarters is Main Beach (Broadway and Coast

Highway), with independent substations on the sands at The Montage

Resort & Spa in South Laguna (Aliso Creek Beach and Treasure Island

Park) and at Victoria Beach (Nyes Place and Coast Highway).

Participants are encouraged to pick up materials and then visit their

favorite coves to clean up those areas as well.

For more information, contact Roger von Butow at (949) 497-4816,

or visit www.cleanwaternow.com

Parking meters get bagged on Monday

A majority of parking meters in the Village area of town between

Thalia and Diamond streets will be decommissioned -- or “bagged” --

Monday in a two-month pilot program to try to reduce parking demand

in residential areas by the business district.

Seventy-five percent of the meters will be bagged, so people will

not have to pay for street parking but will have to move their cars

every 72 hours to avoid a citation.

Notices have been sent to 1,500 addresses, said City Manager Ken

Frank.

The program will be in place for two months, and then will be

reevaluated.

“We are getting some complaints from residents and businesses who

do not want the program,” Frank said.

All meters on Glenneyre Street between Thalia and Diamond will be

bagged, as well as on side streets between Coast Highway and

Glenneyre in that area, said Steve May, director of public works.

The meter bagging program was one of the recommendations of a task

force on parking issues in the area.

Cove operating bill withdrawn for changes

State Sen. John Campbell decided to withdraw proposed legislation

to turn over Crystal Cove Historic District operations to a nonprofit

organization -- but will resubmit the bill later with modifications.

Campbell reportedly withdrew the bill June 28 due to several last

minute concerns from bill supporters.

The bill would require the state to sign an agreement with a

nonprofit group to oversee the renovations in the Crystal Cove

Historic District. The nonprofit group’s board of directors will

include members of the Laguna Beach and Newport Beach city councils

and the Orange County Supervisor for the 5th District, which contains

the state park.

The Crystal Cove Alliance, a nonprofit partner of California State

Parks, supported Campbell’s legislation but felt that having elected

officials on the nonprofit board could create unnecessary political

ties, said alliance President Laura Davick.

“It would be inappropriate for legislature to begin telling

nonprofit organizations who should be on their board,” Davick said.

Having elected officials on the board could politicize the

organization and set a dangerous precedent, Davick said.

According to Scott Valor, a legislative consultant to the

alliance, Campbell is not scrapping the bill entirely; he plans to

discuss possible changes with bill supporters.

On the day of committee hearing Campbell was in Washington, D.C.,

and could not make decisions on any last minute changes, Valor said.

By Lauren Vane