City Council repeals Ordinance 1675 amid public outcry

By Jackie Connor, Special to the Independent

In a 3-0 vote, city council members will repeal Ordinance 1675, a contentious piece of legislation that has sparked significant public debate over zoning codes relating to commercial building height, mass, bulk and parking. The ordinance changes the zoning codes to exclude lot mergers from exceeding 15,000 square feet within 500 feet of downtown Laguna Beach as well as limiting building height to 36 feet, two primary concerns the public focused on during a Tuesday’s city council meeting. 

Councilmember Bob Whalen and Mayor Pro Tem Alex Rounaghi cited concerns over Ordinance 1675’s legal conflicts with the California State Housing and recommended repealing the ordinance to include a more comprehensive zoning update.

“We have a highly educated electorate in this town and when I spoke to voters, one of the biggest concerns was the unintended consequence with Measure Q and that when the voters pass something, it can’t be changed…if we were to send this to the voters, we would essentially be asking the voters to reject or approve something that is going to be [a] legal [issue],” said Rounaghi.

Adopted in August 2022, Ordinance 1675 aimed to amend the zoning code, including design review criteria such as maximum building heights. However, according to resident Gene Felder, its implementation was met with a referendum petition that included 2,679 signatures, forcing the council to decide between repealing the ordinance or putting it to a public vote.

“The city’s April 12 staff report recommended a vote of the people when a variance was granted to exceed the 36-foot height limit—subsequently that disappeared,” said Felder. “Ordinance [1675] states that a building cannot be longer than 125 feet, but then states that ‘longer building lengths may be approved by the planning commission,’ so it’s not great.”

Residents liked this ordinance to Measure Q, which proposed an overlay zoning district and required voter approval for any major development project that did not conform to city’s unique building requirements. This was defeated in November 2022.

“We can all go and go back over that history and it was pretty muddy and pretty awful. And I will be one of the first people to say that it was very convoluted…” resident Michele Monda said to the City Council.  “This referendum…should have been about lot size, and…about height, because that’s what’s most important to most people.”

The public passionately discouraged the council’s decision to repeal the ordinance, citing a lack of community voice. Concerns were primarily raised around preserving Laguna Beach’s unique character, which is defined by small-scale commercial buildings. Some expressed concerns over building heights beyond the code’s 36-foot limitation, subsequently obstructing views. 

“This kind of an ordinance, which has an impact over the entire city, should have been placed before them [citizens]. It should have had more notice than it had before,” said resident Jacob Cherub, who spoke of the original ordinance with the Los Angeles Times Media Group in 2022.