The Laguna Beach City Council took public comment and questioned staff after the Pacific Marine Mammal Center requested that a temporary field hospital sited on part of the city’s dog park be retained in a reduced footprint as a permanent "pop‑up" facility for future domoic acid (DA) bloom years.

Jeremy (city staff) summarized the history: in 2023 the city issued a temporary use permit (TUP) allowing PMMC to use about 15,000 square feet of a roughly 115,000 square‑foot parcel while PMMC renovated its main facility. PMMC now asks the city to convert the use from temporary to permanent and said details would reduce the footprint to roughly 12,000 square feet and remove several trailers, returning about 90% of the dog park footprint to public use.

Dr. Deming, vice president of conservation medicine and science at the Pacific Marine Mammal Center, said recent years have featured an unusual run of domoic acid blooms and higher stranding volumes across Orange County. "This is a public safety concern," she said, adding that the field hospital allowed PMMC to keep sick or neurologically affected animals off public beaches and to operate in a sheltered, educational setting. Dr. Deming described the proposed permanent arrangement as a pop‑up facility that would open for approximately two to three months during high‑demand bloom years rather than operate year‑round.

Several nearby nonprofits and residents urged the council to reject a permanent conversion. David Finch, president of Friends of Laguna Beach Dog Park, said the group supported the temporary permit but "strongly oppose[d] any continued use of dog land beyond the temporary permit," noting the parcel was gifted for community dog‑park use. Representatives of Laguna Food Pantry (Chris Quilter and executive director Anne Bellier) asked the city to consider using the parcel to expand pantry operations instead; Bellier said the pantry serves roughly 300 families each day, that in 2025 volunteers contributed "over 29,000 hours with a value of over $1,000,000," and that relocating the pantry would take years and cost millions.

Staff noted the parcel was purchased with grant funding that carries covenants: Jeremy told council the property received a roughly $200,000 grant from the California Transportation Commission and about $60,000 from the former California State Parks and Recreation, both of which include covenants requiring the land remain open space in its current form; staff said a legal analysis would be required to define any buyout options or limitations.

Council members expressed sympathy for PMMC’s capacity and public‑safety concerns and for the pantry’s expanding need, and several members suggested master planning for the site to find compromises that could preserve dog‑park use while supporting emergency pop‑up capacity and pantry needs. City manager Dave Kiff asked that two council members be designated to work with staff as an ad hoc group to explore options; councilmembers volunteered and staff said the ad hoc committee would be brought back as a future consent item.

No formal vote or final decision to convert the TUP to a permanent use was made at the study session. Council directed staff to perform a legal review of grant covenants, analyze alternatives and fiscal impacts, and return with options that could include master planning or ad hoc negotiation with stakeholders.