Update: Planning Commission puts project on hold
September 7th: The Laguna Beach Planning Commission voted 5-0 on September 2, 2026, to table the proposed Ocean Avenue and Beach Street improvements rather than approve the project as presented.
No final design, Coastal Development Permit or construction plan was approved. The City will conduct additional outreach, evaluate concerns raised by residents and return the project to the Planning Commission at a future publicly noticed hearing.
Commissioners Ken Sadler and Susan McLintock Whitin were appointed to a two-member working group that will gather stakeholder feedback, meet with City staff and consultants, consider project options and report back to the full Commission. City legal counsel emphasized that the working group will not design or approve the project.
Sept. 2 decision: Quick facts
- Vote: 5-0 to table the project
- Applications tabled: Design Review 2026-1651 and Coastal Development Permit 2026-1654
- Working-group members: Ken Sadler and Susan McLintock Whitin
- Project status: No final approval was granted
- Next step: Additional outreach followed by a new public notice and future Planning Commission hearing
- Return date: Not yet scheduled
Why the City changed its recommendation
City staff originally recommended approval. At the beginning of the hearing, however, Planning Manager Samantha Beier said the City had received additional comments after publishing the agenda report that warranted further evaluation.
Staff asked the Commission to table the item so questions, feedback and project considerations could be more fully addressed. Beier said the project will be renoticed and returned to the Commission after that outreach is completed.
Staff also explained that the design presented September 2 had already been narrowed following earlier public feedback. Midblock improvements and new landscaping had been removed, and the plans had been revised so that no tree removals were proposed and the existing mature canopy would be retained.
That description applies to the plans presented at this hearing. Because the project is now undergoing additional review, the design that eventually returns may be different.
Concerns raised during public comment
Public speakers expressed concerns about:
- The pace and purpose of the project
- Its current and anticipated cost
- The number of parking spaces that could be affected
- Traffic congestion, delivery access and emergency-vehicle circulation
- Protecting mature trees during sidewalk and grading work
- Construction timing and its effect on downtown businesses
- Whether other infrastructure needs should receive higher priority
- Whether major downtown decisions should wait until after the November election
These were concerns raised by individual speakers, not findings adopted by the Planning Commission. The Commission did not decide the merits of the proposed design at this hearing.
What the working group will do
Assistant City Attorney Patrick Donegan explained that the working group’s role is limited. The two commissioners may gather stakeholder feedback, communicate with City staff and consultants, review different options and report the important discussion points to the full Commission.
They will not independently design the project or decide whether it should be approved. Any future decision must return to the full Planning Commission at a public hearing.
How this relates to the broader Downtown Streetscape Vision Plan
The Ocean Avenue and Beach Street proposal is related to—but narrower than—the City’s broader Downtown Streetscape Vision Plan.
The broader vision plan examines potential improvements at numerous downtown intersections in response to California’s crosswalk-daylighting law, AB 413. Its concepts include curb extensions, safer pedestrian crossings, additional landscaping, public art, gathering spaces and permanent alternatives to temporary outdoor-dining parklets.
Ocean Avenue and Beach Street are included among the locations studied in the City’s November 2025 concept document. The application considered September 2, however, was a specific engineered project covering Ocean Avenue between Forest Avenue and South Coast Highway and Beach Street between Ocean Avenue and Broadway Street.
The Planning Commission’s decision to table that application did not constitute a decision on every location or concept included in the broader Downtown Streetscape Vision Plan.
Who is on the working group?
The Planning Commission appointed Commissioners Ken Sadler and Susan McLintock Whitin to the temporary working group.
The two commissioners will gather feedback from residents, downtown businesses and other stakeholders; communicate with City staff and consultants; consider potential project options; and report their findings to the full Planning Commission.
Residents and business owners who participate in that outreach will be stakeholders, not additional appointed members of the working group. As of September 7, the City has not announced public seats, an application process or a deadline for joining this particular group.
The City maintains a separate application process for its standing boards, commissions and committees. If the City later creates additional public positions or announces a formal application process connected with the streetscape review, So Laguna will add that information here.
Watch the Ocean Avenue hearing
The Ocean Avenue and Beach Street item begins approximately 2 hours and 55 minutes into the September 2 Planning Commission meeting.
- 2:55:25 — Staff changes its recommendation
- 2:56:36 — Staff requests additional outreach
- 2:57:18 — Public comment begins
- 3:10:33 — City explains the proposed working group
- 3:15:16 — Working-group members are selected
- 3:15:29 — Motion and unanimous vote
Meeting transcript highlights
The following excerpts were prepared from YouTube’s automatically generated transcript and lightly edited for punctuation and clarity. The meeting video remains the primary record.
Staff’s revised recommendation
Planning Manager Samantha Beier said the design reflected feedback received since the City’s 2025 town hall and the Planning Commission’s March 2026 concept review.
She explained that the scope had been reduced, midblock improvements and new landscaping had been removed, and the plans had been revised so no tree removals were proposed.
September 2nd: City of Laguna Beach Update on Ocean Ave
The Laguna Beach Planning Commission will consider a major set of downtown streetscape improvements on Wednesday, Sept. 2, including new curb extensions, sidewalk replacement, pedestrian crossings, tree-well changes and drainage work along Ocean Avenue and Beach Street.
The hearing comes only months after construction on the Promenade on Forest raised difficult questions about mature trees, grading, sidewalk work and conditions discovered after construction began. The Ocean Avenue project is different, and the same outcome should not be assumed. But the Forest Avenue experience gives residents and commissioners a practical reason to ask detailed questions before this project moves into bidding and construction.
Public discussion ahead of the hearing has focused particularly on whether removing and replacing sidewalks or widening tree wells could uncover root conflicts or tree-health conditions that lead to additional removals after work begins. Residents have also raised questions about project costs and whether the City’s capital priorities reflect the community’s most urgent needs. Those are concerns—not established project outcomes—but the Sept. 2 hearing is the appropriate place to request specific evidence and answers.
Sept. 2 hearing: Quick facts
- Meeting: Laguna Beach Planning Commission
- Date and time: Wednesday, Sept. 2, 2026, at 6 p.m.
- Location: City Council Chambers, 505 Forest Avenue, Laguna Beach
- Applications: Design Review 2026-1651 and Coastal Development Permit 2026-1654
- Project area: Ocean Avenue between Forest Avenue and South Coast Highway, and Beach Street between Ocean Avenue and Broadway Street
- Meeting records: View So Laguna’s source-linked Sept. 2 Planning Commission record
What the Planning Commission is being asked to approve
According to the City’s public-hearing notice, the requested Design Review and Coastal Development Permit cover the following improvements:
- Replacement of Ocean Avenue sidewalks with a standard gray two-foot-by-two-foot concrete grid pattern and brick banding
- Curb extensions, commonly called bump-outs, at corners for traffic calming and shorter pedestrian crossings
- New accessible curb ramps with truncated domes
- Brick pavers at pedestrian crossings
- Widening and replacement of the sidewalk on the north side of Beach Street
- Wider tree wells intended to preserve existing trees
- Minor drainage improvements
The City has posted the 60% engineering plans and Planning Commission exhibits. Those documents—not older concept graphics or social-media summaries—are the most current plans for the Sept. 2 hearing.
Why the Forest Avenue experience matters
On Forest Avenue, the approved project originally contemplated retaining a number of mature trees. After construction and grading work began, a tree failure and additional investigation led arborists to identify shallow structural roots, girdling roots, decay and conflicts with the planned grade. Seventeen trees were ultimately removed, including removals that were not anticipated by many residents when the project was approved.
The City said the Forest Avenue removals became necessary for public safety. At the same time, some residents questioned whether more invasive root investigation should have occurred before construction made the conflict unavoidable. So Laguna’s Promenade on Forest coverage documents the arborist findings, grading conflict, tree removals and replacement plan.
That history does not establish that the Ocean Avenue and Beach Street trees will face the same conditions. It does identify questions worth answering while the design is still under public review:
- Which individual trees are expected to remain, and what investigation has been completed beneath the proposed sidewalks and widened tree wells?
- Will grading, drainage or utility work change the elevation within any tree’s critical root zone?
- Have structural roots been mapped where sidewalks will be removed, widened or replaced?
- If unexpected root or tree conditions are discovered during construction, who will decide whether the design changes or a tree is removed, and how will the public be notified?
- What replacement species, specimen sizes, irrigation and establishment requirements would apply if preservation proves impossible?
- How will construction be phased to preserve pedestrian access, business visibility, deliveries and downtown circulation?
What the City has said about trees, sidewalks and parking
The current hearing notice says the design is intended to preserve existing trees by widening their tree wells. In responses following the City’s November 2025 town hall, staff said the Beach Street sidewalk widening was intended to improve the pathway around the existing ficus tree and would not eliminate parking in that area.
The same City response described the anticipated parking effects of the curb extensions as minimal because the bump-outs were generally placed where marked stalls did not exist. Staff also said the parking impacts would be refined through final design. Because the project has now advanced to 60% plans, the Sept. 2 hearing is an opportunity to establish an updated before-and-after parking count and confirm how the design accommodates delivery trucks, trolleys and emergency vehicles.
What is the project expected to cost?
In its November 2025 town-hall responses, the City reported an existing capital-improvement allocation of $1.5 million for project design and construction, with $459,338 spent on design at that time. Because the design and schedule have advanced since those figures were published, residents may want the City to provide an updated project budget, expenditures to date, construction estimate, contingency and process for approving change orders.
Two related ideas are not part of this approval
Earlier public discussions included a possible one-way conversion of Lower Ocean Avenue. That is no longer the proposal: the City Council unanimously directed on Nov. 18, 2025, that Lower Ocean Avenue remain a two-way street.
The Sept. 2 hearing notice also does not include construction of a new fire station at the former bus-depot property. Any future fire-station relocation is a separate facilities decision and should not be described as part of Design Review 2026-1651 or Coastal Development Permit 2026-1654.
How the project reached this hearing
The City Council initiated a Downtown Action Plan in 2019 to study downtown infrastructure. Although that plan was not adopted, it produced recommendations involving sidewalks, landscaping, lighting, public art and trees. SWA Group prepared an Ocean Avenue concept in March 2025, and the City later retained KOA to advance engineering, drainage, landscaping, irrigation, environmental review and permitting.
The City held a town hall in November 2025, the City Council considered the concept later that month, and the Planning Commission conducted a concept review in March 2026. The Sept. 2 hearing is the formal project review. The City’s current schedule calls for construction bidding in October, award of a construction contract in November and the start of construction in the fourth quarter of 2026.
Environmental review and appeals
City staff recommends finding the project categorically exempt from the California Environmental Quality Act under the exemption for repair, maintenance or minor alteration of existing facilities involving negligible or no expansion of use.
Because the project is in an appealable area of the Coastal Zone, the Planning Commission’s decision may be appealed to the City Council under the Laguna Beach Municipal Code. The public notice lists a $2,500 City appeal fee. A subsequent City Council decision may be appealed to the California Coastal Commission without a fee.
How to participate or follow the meeting
The hearing begins at 6 p.m. Wednesday, Sept. 2, in the City Council Chambers at 505 Forest Avenue. The City set 5:30 p.m. Tuesday, Sept. 1 as its advance written-comment deadline. Comments may also be made in person during the hearing.
Questions about the application may be directed to Assistant Planner Sarah Olsen at solsen@lagunabeachcity.net or (949) 715-1149. Project questions may also be directed to Project Manager Alpha Santos at asantos@lagunabeachcity.net or (949) 497-0729.
- City of Laguna Beach Downtown Improvement Project page
- Official Sept. 2 public-hearing notice
- Current 60% engineering plans
- Planning Commission exhibits
- City agendas, minutes and meeting videos
- So Laguna’s Sept. 2 Planning Commission meeting record
So Laguna will update this page after the hearing with the Commission’s action, vote and any project changes.
