Pearson clarifies all five Village Entrance EIR alternatives

Editor:

I wish to respond to your article in last week's Independent regarding the Village Entrance discussion at the August 5 City Council Meeting. It left out points, which I believe, could have brought more clarity to your readers had they been included in the article. Below are the facts regarding the Village Entrance Alternatives in the Environmental Impact Report under review.

There were 3 Alternatives included in the EIR prior to the Aug 5 Council meeting. Toni, Cheryl and I proposed other concepts on Aug. 5 - adding 2 potential new options, for a total of possibly 5 alternatives.

First, it should be clear that all EIR options would include the park on the north side of the channel/creek and the "historic digester"/round structure would also be retained.

Today, the EIR Alternatives for the south side of the channel are:

Previous Ones

#1 - no project/no build - leave as is (no park, retention of historic digester and current 390 surface spaces), or #2: - 4-level parking structure 593-car garage plus 25 surface parking spaces for a total of 618 spaces, or #3: -3-level parking structure with 429 spaces in garage + 25 surface spaces for a total of 454 total parking spaces; or

New Ones

#4 - my new concept: 490 parking spaces (most would be in garage; some could be surface spaces) and 8- 15 housing units (either rental or ownership), or # 5 - Toni's and Cheryl's concepts - retail and/ or restaurant (Cheryl) plus a rooftop park (Toni)

Hopefully, this will give Laguna Beach residents a clearer understanding of where we are in considering the Village Entrance EIR and the alternatives.

Elizabeth Pearson Laguna Beach City Councilmember