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Council approves hotel expansion and 15% parking reduction with monitoring conditions
Summary
The council unanimously approved a conditional use and coastal-development permit allowing a hotel expansion to 25 rooms with a four-space parking reduction, contingent on a Transportation Demand Management plan and one- and five-year monitoring.
Laguna Beach’s City Council unanimously approved a conditional use permit and coastal development permit to allow a hotel at 2020 South Coast Highway to expand to 25 guest rooms while reducing the required off-street parking by 15 percent (four spaces), subject to mitigation measures in a Transportation Demand Management (TDM) plan.
Staff said the planning commission had recommended approval and that a peer-reviewed transportation study concluded the reduction would not cause spillover parking impacts to adjoining properties. The hotel will provide guest bicycles, designate a rideshare pick-up area, charge for overnight parking to encourage turnover, and provide transit information at check-in. "Historical parking demand has been lower than what the parking code requires for hotel uses," staff noted.
The applicant’s representative said the current ownership expanded the parking lot from 12 to 23 spaces during a 2023 remodel and is not seeking to reduce the existing, on-the-ground count. The council included conditions requiring the applicant to submit professional reports at the one- and five-year marks to verify that the TDM measures mitigate lost parking demand.
Council members expressed support for the project as investment in the community and highlighted the municipal code’s innovative-parking solutions provision; the motion to approve the CUP and CDP passed unanimously.
