Laguna Beach outlines 2025 ‘surge’ plan: more rangers, parking enforcement, transit and stewardship messaging as residents raise trash and parking concerns

Laguna Beach officials on Wednesday laid out a coordinated “surge” effort for summer 2025 that pairs increased field enforcement and parking citation capacity with a new stewardship messaging campaign aimed at changing day-visitor behavior.

City Manager Dave Kiff and public-safety leaders described steps the city will take — more park rangers, additional motor officers and traffic aides authorized to write citations, expanded transit service and targeted trash-collection changes — while Visit Laguna Beach presented a branding shift to encourage visitors to “connect authentically and respectfully” with Laguna’s environment, culture and heritage.

The plan matters because city revenues and quality of life are both affected by visitor impacts. “We’re calling it a surge for 2025,” City Manager Dave Kiff said. He noted the city relies on visitor-driven revenue streams — hotel bed taxes, parking revenue and sales taxes — to operate services residents use.

The policing and enforcement component includes measures to redirect existing staff and add seasonal capacity. Laguna Beach Police Chief Jeff Calvert said the department handled more than 51,000 calls for service last year — a 13% increase over 2023 — and described response-time benchmarks and citation activity. “We wrote close to 1,700 speeding citations last year, 340 loud-exhaust citations,” Calvert said, and highlighted about 22,000 parking citations recorded last year. He said officers made more than 1,000 felony and misdemeanor arrests, including 284 DUI arrests; 238 of those DUI arrests were visitors and 46 were residents, and the department has begun sending DUI-notification letters to businesses identified during arrest reports.

Calvert and other staff said enforcement alone is not enough, and the city will deploy other personnel and tools. The city plans nine park rangers this summer (the city budgeted for eight but authorized an overhire), and park rangers will work anti-camping, leash and drinking-in-public enforcement and coordinate with public works on graffiti removal and other nuisances. The city has expanded traffic enforcement from two motor officers to four, with a fifth motor expected within months; a dedicated traffic sergeant will supervise the unit. Seasonal traffic aides (10–12 total) have had their job descriptions changed so five can now write parking citations during high-demand hours.

Transportation and trash changes are part of the package. The “Summer Breeze” coastal shuttle will start May 23, aimed at diverting inland drivers; Laguna Local microtransit expands hours on June 27 and will add late‑May service from canyon and El Toro Road areas. Public works adjusted trash-collection cycles last summer and will increase litter‑picker crews and day‑porter restroom/trash service (the city budgeted 16 hours per day and a reserve for a third attendant if needed).

Visit Laguna Beach outlined a separate but aligned stewardship platform focused on three pillars — environment, culture and heritage — intended to reposition Laguna away from purely promotional imagery and toward messaging that leads visitors to respect local values. “We exist to protect and celebrate the true ethos of Laguna Beach by inspiring visitors to connect authentically and respectfully with our local culture,” said John Zegoy, representing Visit Laguna Beach, describing a community-informed effort of surveys, town halls and stakeholder panels.

Residents at the town hall urged additional and quicker action. Speakers requested more frequent trash pickups (including secure, gull‑proof receptacles at high‑use beaches), clearer enforcement of rules for shade structures and “easy-ups,” better parking enforcement in neighborhood streets and more coordinated signage and on-site education at heavily used access points such as Thousand Steps and Tenth Street.

Several residents proposed low‑cost engagement ideas that city staff said they will explore: QR codes at beach entrances linking to stewardship guidance and to Ask Laguna (the city’s service-request system), scheduled monthly community cleanups with local-business incentives, docent or ambassador presence at key stairways, and improved messaging in hotels and storefronts to highlight Laguna’s marine protected areas and tide-pool etiquette. At least one resident suggested expanding restroom availability by repurposing vacant storefronts during peak season; staff said they will consider options.

Ocean and conservation concerns also surfaced. Alex Anderson, a Laguna resident, asked Visit Laguna and the city to add clearer guidance on marine protected areas and tide-pool protection to visitor-facing materials. Several speakers urged more prominent, pre-visit information — signs, QR links or short video content in hotels — to reduce damage in sensitive intertidal zones.

No formal policy or ordinance changes were adopted at the meeting; city staff said the briefing was to outline operational preparations and gather community feedback. Some longer-term planning work referenced at the meeting involves the general plan and the local coastal program: staff and consultants have begun compiling a coastal-resources database and are in early conversations with the California Coastal Commission’s legal counsel about how to balance public access with resource protections under the Coastal Act and the city’s LCP.

The city also invited residents to complete a stewardship survey and attend follow-up stakeholder meetings; staff said those community inputs will shape final messaging and use of tourism-related funding. Several residents urged that a share of Visit Laguna Beach’s temporary marketing savings be deployed for boots-on-the-ground management rather than advertising.

Discussion, direction and decisions - Discussion: City staff and Visit Laguna Beach presented planned enforcement, transit and trash changes and a new stewardship messaging strategy; residents offered ideas and complaints following the presentation. - Direction: Staff said they would (a) expand park ranger staffing this summer, (b) increase parking citation capacity via traffic aides and expanded motor unit, (c) start Summer Breeze service May 23 and expand Laguna Local hours June 27, and (d) continue coordination on trash-receptacle improvements and day-porter coverage. Staff committed to follow up on feasibility of QR codes at beachheads and potential docent/ambassador coverage at highly used stairs and access points. - Formal action: None recorded during the meeting.

What officials said (selected direct quotes) - City Manager Dave Kiff: “We’re calling it a surge for 2025,” and he noted parking rates “are set by ordinance and the Coastal Commission.” - Police Chief Jeff Calvert: “We handled over 51,000 calls for service last year… We wrote close to 1,700 speeding citations last year, 340 loud-exhaust citations,” and “we wrote… over 22,000 parking citations.” - John Zegoy, Visit Laguna Beach: “We exist to protect and celebrate the true ethos of Laguna Beach by inspiring visitors to connect authentically and respectfully with our local culture.”

Next steps and how residents can help City staff asked residents to complete the stewardship survey (QR provided in the presentation), to continue attending stakeholder meetings and to report overflow trash or graffiti via Ask Laguna so public works can respond. Staff also said they will return to council with refined proposals for how tourism-related funds will be allocated for summer operations and stewardship initiatives.

Because the meeting was a briefing and community input session, any future regulatory or fee changes would require public hearings and formal council action.