Laguna Beach presents Ocean Avenue and Beach Street concept plans; one-way study heads to council Nov. 18

Laguna Beach staff and consultants on Nov. 6 presented concept-level plans to redesign Ocean Avenue and parts of Beach Street downtown, including new sidewalks, tree-well treatments, curb bump-outs, screening for surface parking and drainage improvements — and said a KOA traffic study that examines a possible one-way conversion of lower Ocean Avenue will go to city council on Nov. 18 for direction.

"The focus of this project is along Ocean Avenue, basically from Forest Avenue down to Coast Highway and also portions of Beach Street," said Pierre Sawaya, capital program manager in Public Works, who opened the town hall and said staff have begun corridor survey and utility mapping and contracted an independent arborist to visually inspect about 79 trees along the route.

Staff and SWA Group landscape architect Evan Lee described design aims to preserve Ocean Avenue’s pedestrian character and tree canopy, simplify and unify paving (proposed 2-foot by 2-foot saw-cut sidewalk panels), and add targeted planting and curb extensions to improve crosswalk visibility and reduce the visual impact of surface parking lots. Lee said the team is weighing two tree-well approaches: metal grates for smaller-caliper or new trees and decomposed granite for larger trees such as ficus.

"We want to maintain a healthy tree canopy that is able to survive long term," Evan Lee said, while also noting that some historic ficus on lower Ocean show root heaving and other stress and would be treated differently once the arborist report is complete.

The consultant also presented a conceptual one-way alternative for lower Ocean Avenue (between Beach Street and South Coast Highway) that would realign the street’s centerline, extend angled parking along one side and add roughly eight net new on-street spaces in the study area. Staff said the KOA one-way study and alternatives will be presented to city council on Nov. 18, when council is expected to give direction on whether to pursue a one-way conversion.

Several business owners and residents urged staff to increase outreach and to avoid scheduling major construction during the peak retail quarter; one business owner who said she operates a store at 311 Ocean noted project materials listed construction beginning Q4 2026 and asked whether that could be moved earlier to avoid losing peak retail season revenue. Staff said the project currently has a CIP allocation for design and construction and that an engineer’s cost estimate will be prepared during final design; during the meeting a participant stated the CIP had $1.5 million set aside for design and construction.

Public commenters raised repeated concerns that a one-way conversion could create choke points at the Whole Foods/Bank of America corner, encourage cut-through traffic through parking lots and alleys, complicate bus and delivery turning movements during summer, and make routine errands and access to downtown more difficult for locals. Several speakers who identified themselves as long-time residents said they feared a one-way Ocean Avenue would further restrict local access and drive customers to neighboring cities.

Staff responded that the current effort is concept-level, that consultants analyzed both one-way and two-way alternatives so the council can decide on Nov. 18, and that final design will come back to planning commission for design review and public hearing. Staff also said they will post meeting notes to the project web page and accept continued written comments to the project manager, Alpha Santos.

Other details discussed at the town hall included: the intent to widen the sidewalk on the inland (barbershop) side of Beach Street between Ocean and Broadway where a large ficus limits accessible path width; using bump-outs to "bookend" parking areas and frame entries to lots with planting; screening parking with low hedges or vertical vine structures; consideration of trees with drought-tolerant, evergreen foliage to limit leaf litter; and the trade-offs of tree grates versus decomposed granite in tree wells. Several residents urged the city to consider native species options, to minimize canopy plantings that block storefront signage, and to include lighting and safety improvements in the design scope.

No formal votes or approvals were taken at the town hall. The KOA one-way study and staff recommendations will be presented to Laguna Beach City Council on Nov. 18. Staff said subsequent steps will include preliminary and final engineering, planning commission design review, a bidding phase and then construction, with schedule details to be refined once final design and cost estimates are completed.