Posted on January 13, 2025
A local leader noted several key issues for the district at a business-focused community meeting this week, and highlighted replenishing the sand on local beaches and undergrounding utilities along Laguna Canyon Road as top priorities.
The Laguna Beach Chamber of Commerce Government Affairs Committee held their regular meeting via Zoom on Thursday (Jan. 9) with Orange County Supervisor Katrina Foley (D-Costa Mesa) as the featured speaker. More than two dozen people attended the virtual meeting, which included a Q&A portion.
Noting her office’s effort to advocate and go after grant funding, Foley said they returned $1.25 billion back to Orange County for each of the district’s top priorities. That figure includes $305 million to place 500,000 cubic yards of sand on the coast and stabilize local beaches, she said.
“As a beach community, you know the value of our sandy beaches to the tourism economy,” Foley said. “The beaches, the coastal economy is critical to our overall economy.”
They are also continuing to work on the Laguna Canyon Road improvement project and underground utilities, she commented.
“What we’ve seen with these fires that are just out of control in Los Angeles is that having access – quick access – is critical and Laguna Beach is a key area where we need to make sure we have critical, quick access,” Foley said.
She’s also working on a series of “HeloPods” to be placed on the 73 Highway in vacant toll booth areas. When connected to a municipal water source or hydrant, a HeloPod water storage tank can automatically refill itself. These sites would serve Laguna Beach, Newport Beach and Irvine. They already funded two HeloPods in Aliso Viejo and San Juan Capistrano, Foley noted.
“That way we can get water out faster and, if we have it closer to Laguna and to Newport Coast, we’ll be able to respond more quickly and hopefully stamp out these fires that we know are coming,” Foley said.
She’s working on the project as a member of the Toll Road board.
Foley also noted the creation of the Coastal Resiliency Coalition, which is made up of stakeholders from all of the relevant south county cities that are impacted. The staff member tasked with leading the effort was recently hired. She’s very knowledgeable about the coast and erosion issues, Foley commented.
The aim is to develop a plan for an ongoing maintenance and sand replenishment program, which will be a nature-based solution. They need to invest in beaches as much as they do road improvements, she added. They repair roads and fix facilities, and they need to do the same for the beaches.
She also working with Laguna Beach to get a fire and rescue lifeguard boat docked at the slips in Dana Point Harbor. Foley pointed out that the city has a new marine safety vessel already docked at Marina Park in Newport Beach. She recently had a meeting discussing the topic, she added, and is still working on making it happen.
Regarding homelessness, a continuing issue in the district, Foley pointed out that a majority of supervisors voted in favor of a resolution supporting Proposition 36, the Homeless, Drug Addiction and Theft Reduction Act. The Laguna Beach City Council also adopted a resolution in support of the proposition.
The county cleared more than 1,200 encampments in the last year, Foley pointed out, “which is significant.” According to her 2024 Year in Review newsletter, the Orange County Flood Control District with support from the OC Sheriff’s Behavioral Health Bureau and OC Health Care Agency, cleared encampments in flood channels, nature preserves and parks. Many of them were in district five, she noted. They also ensured that those who were engaged had access to services.
“Not just clearing the encampment, but finding housing, connecting people to treatment, making sure that people get the help that they need,” Foley said. “If they don’t want help and they refuse our services, they just can’t live on the sidewalk or in the parks.”
They also created a collaborative team with the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, county public works and flood district, and the cities of Newport Beach and Costa Mesa to prevent future encampments.
She also discussed cutting red tape for businesses and streamlining the permitting process at the county level. It has taken four to six months for some restaurants to obtain their environmental health permits, she noted. Following a round table she held last year (and invited various local chamber of commerce groups), they came up with a plan. They hired 37 environmental health staffers to be more responsive and automated certain processes. Previously, applications for environmental health permits had to be submitted in person at the county offices in Santa Ana, but now there’s an online system.
“It seems pretty basic, but it took a lot to get that,” Foley said. “I’m actually excited about that. I think that’s going to help people and it’ll help businesses get open more quickly, which is what we want.”
Also during the meeting, Foley mentioned: Implementation of common sense e-bike safety ordinance for the county’s unincorporated areas; initiation of the prohibition of the sale of nitrous oxide for recreational use; supported reasonable regulation of sober living homes and investment in modernizing John Wayne Airport.
Foley also shared a survey for residents to rank their top priorities for District Five.
