Will Our Neighborhoods Be Next?
If you’ve driven down South Coast Highway (PCH) lately, you’ve likely noticed the relative ease of finding a spot compared to the madness of Main Beach. However, that’s about to change. The City of Laguna Beach has officially requested a one-year pilot program for paid parking along a significant stretch of our coastline.
It is critical that we act now. The City has flagged this project as ‘categorically exempt’ from CEQA environmental review, meaning they are bypassing a full study of how this traffic will shift into our streets. Furthermore, if the Planning Commission approves this and we are forced to appeal to the City Council, the City charges a $2,500 fee just to have our voices heard at the next level.
Ensure you request the city makes our street residential parking only:
While the city aims to manage “traffic safety and coastal access,” many of us in the community are asking: Where will all those cars go once they have to pay?
The Details: Where and When?
The proposed pilot program covers an approximately three-mile linear stretch of Coast Highway. Specifically, the metered and marked parking will run from Ruby Street all the way to 500 feet south of Vista Del Sol.
The plan includes:
- Installation of multi-space pay stations.
- Clearly delineated on-street parking (both paid and unpaid).
- The “Inland Creep”: The program isn’t just restricted to PCH. The city is proposing that the paid zone extend 165 feet inland from the intersections of PCH on several key residential streets, including:
- Upland Road
- Eagle Rock Way
- Catalina Avenue
- 2nd, 3rd, 4th, and 5th Avenues
- 9th and 10th Avenues
Make your voice heard
Public Hearing Scheduled for
- When: Wednesday, May 6, 2026, at 6:00 PM
- Where: City Hall Council Chambers, 505 Forest Avenue, Laguna Beach, CA 92651
Take Action: Protect Our Streets
We are advocating for residential permit parking in our neighborhoods to keep our streets clear, ensuring tourists use the PCH meters where rates can reach up to $10.20 per hour. Don’t let our residential avenues become a free-for-all.
Contact: Submit your written comments to Associate Planner Alyssa Suarez at asuarez@lagunabeachcity.net or call (949) 464-6686.
The Growing Concern: Tourist Displacement
The logic is simple: when you charge for parking on a main thoroughfare, visitors seeking to save a few dollars will naturally migrate into the nearest free spaces. In this case, that means the quiet residential streets directly in front of our homes.
If the city implements paid parking 165 feet into our side streets, it doesn’t solve the problem—it just pushes the “parking hunt” further into our neighborhoods. We run the risk of having our driveways blocked, our visibility reduced, and our local peace disrupted by tourists circling for a free spot.
The Solution: Temporary Locals-Only Permits
We aren’t against better parking management, but it shouldn’t come at the expense of the residents who live here.
Our Proposal: If the City moves forward with this pilot, they must simultaneously implement Temporary Locals-Only Permit Parking for the residential areas adjacent to the pilot zone.
By reserving the side streets for residents, we ensure that tourists utilize the designated paid spots on PCH rather than overwhelming our neighborhood streets. This protects our quality of life and ensures that “improved turnover” on PCH doesn’t just mean “increased congestion” on our blocks.
How to Make Your Voice Heard
A public hearing is scheduled to discuss this Coastal Development Permit and the Temporary Use Permit. This is our chance to demand resident protections before the pay stations are bolted into the ground.
- When: Wednesday, May 6, 2026, at 6:00 PM
- Where: City Hall Council Chambers, 505 Forest Avenue, Laguna Beach, CA 92651
- Contact: You can also submit written comments to Associate Planner Alyssa Suarez at
asuarez@lagunabeachcity.netor call (949) 464-6686.
The Appeal Fee: “If the Planning Commission approves this, any further appeal to the City Council will cost residents a $2,500 fee.”
The CEQA Exemption: “The City is using a ‘categorical exemption’ to bypass a full environmental and traffic impact study for this 3-mile stretch.”
Don’t wait until the meters are installed to complain about the traffic in front of your house.
Let’s ask for the “Buffer Zone” protection we need to keep South Laguna livable.
Michael, thank you for your effort.
“Pilot Program” is cast in stone, never to return lHuife as we know it today.
Are all Solag streets to be painted?
Our house will need 4 permits just for our family. How about our guests?
What is the assurance we will have access to our home and police response to parking damage incurred to property? Yes, that would mean the I’ll tempered parking lady will be a neighborhood fixture. Tisk.
Could the neighborhood request in return a shade structure at trolley/bus stops, West st & phone company/aliso inland parking lot.
Mike, I encourage you to email the city using the links above and make your voice heard! We need to ensure the tourists that don’t want to pay $4/hour for a meter don’t go into the side streets and fill up the resident’s street parking. The neighborhood near Pearl St is permit parking only – they use the local’s parking sticker we already have.