Planning commission approves one‑year South Laguna parking pilot, limits paid meters to Pacific Coast Highway

The Laguna Beach Planning Commission voted May 6 to adopt staff’s recommended South Laguna parking pilot with specific modifications intended to balance roadway safety and neighborhood impacts.

Staff framed the program as a temporary, reversible pilot to improve safety and circulation along a roughly 3‑mile stretch of Pacific Coast Highway from Ruby Street to about 500 feet south of Vista Del Sol and on nine inland blocks. "The purpose of the project is to improve traffic circulation and public safety for Coast Highway users and increase parking turnover and availability in highly trafficked areas near prominent coastal access points," associate planner Alyssa Suarez said during the presentation.

Assistant city engineer Tran Tran presented safety data and the conceptual design, telling the commission the corridor carries "about 37,000 vehicles per day" and that the city reviewed four years of crash reports showing many rear‑end collisions and a portion of vehicle‑versus‑pedestrian crashes. The pilot as proposed would introduce 22 solar pay stations, formalize approximately 501 marked spaces, and set a 5‑hour maximum time limit for delineated spaces during enforcement hours (8 a.m. to 7 p.m.). Staff said roughly 237 spaces would be paid and 264 unpaid under the plan and emphasized that the program is intended to be reversible and data‑driven.

Public comment was extensive and sharply divided. Dozens of South Laguna residents warned the pilot would push beachgoers into residential neighborhoods, exacerbate parking shortages for residents who lack off‑street parking and be difficult to enforce with current staffing. "This is going to push people into our neighborhood," said Brian Menna, a South Laguna resident, who urged maintaining longer residential stays and exempting certain streets. Multiple speakers said the city had not adequately noticed impacted residents and asked that inland residential blocks be removed from the pilot.

Other commenters and organizations, including South Laguna Civic, supported managed parking as a tool to improve safety and generate revenue for reinvestment in sidewalks and crossings. Staff responded that the pilot would collect turnover, usage, overspill and crash data and that the police department has committed to enforcement resources for the pilot period, while acknowledging enforcement capacity is limited.

After deliberations focused on enforcement, walk access to pay stations, and spillover risks, the commission gave staff direction to revise the plan consistent with a consensus: (1) limit paid parking to Coast Highway locations that have an accessible pedestrian path to a pay station, (2) delineate parking spaces throughout the project area to standardize stalls for safety, and (3) keep delineated inland (side‑street) spaces unpaid and without time limits for the pilot. Commissioners said the pilot would be reviewed at 90 days and could be extended to a one‑year temporary permit for fuller evaluation.

A motion to move the staff‑recommended action as modified passed unanimously. Staff said the pilot is subject to local appeals and any Coastal Commission or Caltrans approvals required for work within state highway right‑of‑way; implementation will begin once required appeal and permit periods are exhausted.

Next steps: staff will adjust the plan per the commission’s direction, begin the 90‑day observation phase once appeals and required agency approvals are cleared, and present data to the Parking, Traffic and Circulation committee and then the City Council if longer‑term action is considered.