6 lagunabeachindy . com NOVEMBER 10 , 2023
Letters LETTERS CAN BE MAILED TO : EDITOR @ LBINDY . COM
Thank you to Mayor Bob and the Indy for their timely reminders of the disaster the Oct . 27 , 1993 Fire in Laguna Beach was . It is often the case that as the decades pass , the lessons learned from such an event are lost , and the diligent efforts required to prevent a future similar tragedy begin to decline . We can only improve our future by remembering the past . Your coverage helped immensely toward achieving that goal . JJ Gasparotti , Laguna Beach
Fans of pickleball made some “ noise ” at the Oct . 24 city council meeting as about 25 players , young and old , arrived with paddles in hand to fight for their favorite court . An adorable young player earnestly told council how much he loved pickleball at Lang Park . The rest of the players ’ arguments were about how much “ fun ” pickleball is and the social community it creates to “ make friends and bring people together .”
But what about the neighbors ’ right to peace and quiet in their homes , which are just 25 feet away ?
Seniors at Vista Aliso Senior Community have been complaining for years about the noise pickleball creates , and many are stressed . At the meeting , residents presented signed petitions asking that the courts be closed , moved to another location or converted back to tennis .
In a previous council meeting , the mayor was honest enough to admit the council ’ s mistake of allowing pickleball so close to a residential community . The council voted to try sound mitigation measures before seeking a “ permanent solution .” That was a year ago , and it was recently determined that AcoustiFence was ineffective .
The mayor and council member George Weiss supported stopping the noise and putting residents ’ rights to a peaceful living environment first . The rest wanted to try additional mitigation measures to please the boisterous pickleball community .
The council had a tough decision to make . After an hour of intense pressure and discussion , a vote was taken with these results :
1 . Convert another tennis court at Alta to pickleball and re-convert these back to tennis within 90 days . Meanwhile , look at Moulton Meadows as another option .
2 . Research the possibility of using quiet balls and “ green ” paddles .
3 . Look at building pickleball courts at the north-end of Lang Park . That might mean the next item on the agenda may be soccer moms versus pickleball .
( I ’ ve spoken to the dog group who visit Lang each morning , and they said the
LETTERS , PAGE 9
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MANAGING EDITOR Clara Beard clara @ firebrandmediainc . com
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THEINDYPOLL
LAST WEEK ’ S QUESTION
Is Caltrans doing enough to ensure safety while construction work is being done along Coast Highway ? - No , 50 % ( 4 votes ) - Yes , 50 % ( 4 votes )
TOTAL VOTES - 8
THIS WEEK ’ S QUESTION
Should council release the unredacted version of the investigative report regarding former city manager ’ s allegations of harassment by council member George Weiss ? - Yes - No
TO VOTE , VISIT THE POLL TAB AT LAGUNABEACHINDY . COM . SUBMIT POLL QUESTIONS TO CLARA @ FIREBRANDMEDIAINC . COM .
The LagunaBeachIndy . com poll is conducted using Crowd Signal polling software . To minimize fraudulent entries and votes , the software is set to block duplicate votes by cookie and IP address . While we cannot control users who change locations and use separate devices on different networks , this measure is the most stringent way to deter participants from voting multiple times . No polling software available online can block all attempts at fraudulent voting , as there are ways around most blocking methods . For this reason , we can ’ t fully verify the accuracy of this poll . Language from Crowd Signal ’ s software settings : Voting in a poll is rate limited by IP , even when no blocking is enabled . This means that a large number of votes coming from a single Internet address will trigger a cooldown block to help prevent cheating . Sometimes this is tripped by many people at one location ( for example in schools and offices ) voting in a short period of time .
A publication of
PUBLISHER EDITORIAL DIRECTOR Steve Zepezauer
CREATIVE & MARKETING DIRECTOR Tracy Powell
PRESIDENT OF SALES & MARKETING Scott Sanchez
CITY HALL MEETINGS :
Nov . 15 - Laguna Beach Design Review Board meeting at 9 a . m .
HOW TO CONTACT THE CITY COUNCIL
Bob Whalen Mayor bwhalen @ lagunabeachcity . net
DESIGN REVIEW BOARD
Sue Kempf Mayor Pro Tem skempf @ lagunabeachcity . net
SECOND AND FOURTH THURSDAYS , 5 PM LOUIS WEIL : lweil @ lagunabeachcity . net KRISTINE THALMAN : kthalman @ lagunabeachcity . net DON SHERIDAN : dsheridan @ lagunabeachcity . net JESSICA GANNON : jgannon @ lagunabeachcity . net DEBORAH NEEV : dneev @ lagunabeachcity . net
Mark Orgill Councilmember morgill @ lagunabeachcity . net
Alex Rounaghi Council member arounaghi @ lagunabeachcity . net
PLANNING COMMISSION 1ST AND 3RD WEDNESDAYS , 6 PM STEVEN KELLENBERG , steve @ kellenbergstudio . com KEN SADLER : 616-0517 , ken . sadler @ cox . net JORG DUBIN : 497-2618 , jdubinart @ cox . net STEVE GOLDMAN : 203-554-2290 , steveg415 @ ymail . com SUSAN McLINTOCK WHITIN : 838-6317 , whitinsusan @ gmail . com
George Weiss Councilmember gweiss @ lagunabeachcity . net
Ann Marie McKay City Clerk amckay @ lagunabeachcity . net
Laura Parisi City Treasurer lparisi @ lagunabeachcity . net
OTHER ELECTED REPRESENTATIVES :
REP . KATIE PORTER ,, 1113 Longworth House Office Building , Washington , DC 20515 . 202-225-2415
ASSEMBLYWOMAN DIANE DIXON , 19712 MacArthur Blvd . Ste . 150 , Irvine , CA 92612 . 949-251-0074
FIFTH DISTRICT SUPERVISOR KATRINA FOLEY , 333 W . Santa Ana Blvd ., Santa Ana , CA 92701 714-834- 3550 , Lisa . Bartlett @ ocgov . com
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