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Laguna Beach mayor, public back simplified downtown promenade design aimed at flexible uses
Summary
Mayor Alex Renaghi said public comment and council discussion favored a simplified, tree-focused promenade design that would allow movie nights, markets and other flexible uses; design review will go next to the planning commission with a target to have the space ready for the city's 2027 centennial.
Mayor Alex Renaghi said members of the public and the City Council broadly supported a simplified promenade design for downtown Laguna Beach that he described as a "forest" because it will include more trees than the current design and permit flexible programming.
Renaghi said the design emphasizes flexibility so the space can host "movie nights" and potentially a weekday evening farmers market, and that the ad hoc team and consultants focused on a less costly option than previous promenade plans. "There were more people who were in favor of the promenade than those that were against it," Renaghi said.
Tom Johnson, host of the Fairgate Laguna podcast, said the chambers were filled for the meeting and praised the public discussion. "Lots of good discussion," Johnson said, adding that many comments improved the project by raising detailed concerns such as accessibility for elderly pedestrians.
Renaghi said the ad hoc members (identified in the meeting by first names only as Mark and Sue) worked with SWA, a landscape architecture firm, and that the project will proceed to the planning commission for design review before returning to the City Council. "We'll go to the planning commission next," Renaghi said, describing a feedback loop between the ad hoc team and the planning commission. He said the goal is to move forward "as quickly as possible."
The mayor also said the city aims to have the promenade in place for Laguna Beach's 2027 centennial, and that the design team and public input are being used to incorporate the city's history into the project. "2027 is our hundredth year anniversary. And what better way to mark, you know, to include the history of the town as part of the forest in some way," he said.
City officials described the public comments as civil and substantive; council members and the consultants incorporated suggestions about sightlines, changes in landscaping and pedestrian circulation. Renaghi and Johnson both noted that differing viewpoints during the meeting helped refine the design.
Next steps described by Renaghi are a design-review hearing before the planning commission followed by a City Council decision. No formal vote or funding action on the promenade was recorded in the meeting transcript.
