Mailbag: Canyon doesn’t fit needs of homeless

I found David Peck’s letter, “Let fight for shelter be as successful as first go-round,” (May 16) intriguing. Peck recalled the uproar over the initial site proposed for Laguna’s now 25-year-old Friendship Shelter.

“We found a potential site in the canyon, in the middle of a light-industrial area, and held a public meeting. People came out of the woodwork to object: A homeless shelter would destroy the canyon, they said, bringing traffic, crime and chaos. We kept looking.”

Of course, we all know they found a more suitable location on South Coast Highway and the rest is, well, history.

Peck’s letter seems to suggest that because of this 25 years or experience, we should just trust the Friendship Shelter people to know what’s best and stand aside for their newest venture.

Everyone wants and deserves to be treated with dignity and respect, even when he or she isn’t at his or her best. The Friendship Shelter people know this and respond accordingly. Their goal of permanent housing for these more unfortunate individuals is commendable. I am a proud supporter of this organization and all that it stands for.

But permanent housing is just one board in the framework of giving people back their pride and some degree of quality of life. They also need community and humanity.

Consider this: If the canyon was not a good location for 18 homeless adults — the original number 25 years ago — who had the potential of becoming productive members of the community, why would it be a good location for 40 chronically homeless adults with mental illnesses and disabilities?

The Friendship Shelter is supplied by buses and located near multiple services, the beach and restaurants. The area has well-lighted sidewalks, traffic signals and monitored crosswalks. Human interaction is readily available.

The proposed permanent housing location in the canyon is two miles from any supportive services. While it does have occasional bus service within reasonable walking distance, the closest services are three veterinary hospitals. There are no restaurants, grocery stores, barber or beauty shops, drugstores, coffee houses, sidewalks or traffic signals. It’s a long walk to the beach.

Why would anyone want to place a family member at this location — the middle of nowhere, on a dangerous highway, in a flood plain and severe fire zone?

Surely, if a better location could be found 25 years ago, one can be found today.

Louise Thornton

Laguna Beach

This letter was also sent to the Laguna Beach City Council.

*

LCAD created the safety problem

I do not like the fact that the Laguna College of Art + Design will get a traffic light sooner than expected.

My husband and I have been in Laguna Canyon for more than 30 years, as residents and business owners, and I have something to say about LCAD and its demand for a stoplight at the crosswalk in front of the school on Laguna Canyon Road.

Yes, it was a tragedy that a student was struck by a car, but that should not be the reason for a stoplight at the campus.

LCAD is not the only business in Laguna Canyon that has to deal with pedestrians, bicycles and cars trying to pull in and out of driveways.

LCAD obviously had the funds to expand the campus, increasing traffic and pedestrians on Laguna Canyon Road. Talk to anyone who uses the road regularly and the response will be the same: Traffic in the canyon is horrific, the crosswalk has made it worse and a stoplight would create traffic backed up to Coast Highway in the morning and at the 3:30 p.m. crunch and then past the toll road in the evening. I can’t even imagine the weekends this summer.

We are very concerned that locals have already decided to not use our business and others in the canyon because they would have to drive through the LCAD crosswalk to get there.

If LCAD wants a traffic light to help protect its students, the school should take the responsibility of moving the crosswalk to the entrance-exit for motor vehicles.

After all, the school has created many of these problems. I see students and faculty flying in and out of the campus. The crosswalk has already caused several rear-end accidents because the traffic jams up just after The Big Bend going south, and drivers don’t expect traffic to go from 45 mph to a dead stop. The Big Bend campus driveway is another nightmare.

And school officials want this Caltrans project to start sooner — just when the heat is on, summer is a few weeks away and all of Laguna’s festivals are about to start? They won’t even be in school fighting the summer traffic in our canyon, though we’ll be drowing in it.

I say wait. Wait until school starts again and let them experience the construction mayhem too.

We canyon people are a tight bunch and have gone through enough disasters in our canyon. We should not be the ones to suffer for bad planning on LCAD’s part.

Jody Reeves

Laguna Beach