Laguna Beach City Council Public Hearing - September 29, 2018

September 29, 2018

Executive Summary

- The Laguna Beach City Council held a special meeting on September 29, 2018, at 5:00 PM to address questions about the city's Historic Preservation Ordinance and provide direction to the Historic Preservation Ordinance Task Force. - The meeting focused on clarifying the city's legal obligations under the California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA) when reviewing discretionary projects that might affect potentially historic structures not already listed on state or local historic registers. - Deborah Rosenthal and Larry Nokes presented structured testimony offering differing perspectives on the city's obligations regarding historic preservation. - The central question was whether the city must consider a structure's potential historic status during discretionary project reviews when the structure is not formally listed on any register. - Larry Nokes suggested the city may choose not to consider historic status during reviews as one option. - The City Attorney's office recommended the city must follow CEQA Guidelines when there is substantial evidence a structure might be historic as the second option. - The council was asked to provide direction on the timing and scope of the

Key Decisions

- No final decisions are reflected in this agenda document, as it represents the meeting structure rather than meeting minutes - The meeting was designed to gather input and provide direction to the Historic Preservation Ordinance Task Force - Council was expected to choose between two primary approaches to CEQA compliance for potentially historic structures