City Commission to Debate Right-to-a-View Rule

City planners will take what could be the final look today at a proposal that would make Laguna Beach the first city in Orange County to establish residents’ right to a view.

The controversial View and Sunlight Access Preservation Ordinance has been altered slightly since the Planning Commission last considered it in February.

Instead of having the city’s Design Review Board act as a mediator for disputes over view obstructions caused by trees or other vegetation, the city will offer feuding neighbors the names of professional mediators who would work with a city landscape consultant to resolve problems.

The issue has pitted environmentalists, who are worried that the ordinance is “anti-tree,” against view preservationists, who are clamoring for a tougher law.

“We were not happy with it at the very beginning, and with each meeting we’ve become less and less happy with it,” view preservationist Dave Connell said.

The City Council is expected to begin debating the proposal in May.

City officials have labored for more than a year on the ordinance. As worded now, it would recognize a resident’s “right to preserve a reasonable amount of the view and/or sunlight” that existed when the person bought the property or as of the day the law became effective, whichever came later.

“The greatest significance of this ordinance, if it were to pass, is the creation of a right to a view,” commission Chairwoman Elizabeth Pearson said. “The right to a view gives someone some validity for a lawsuit. It would have a major impact on a person’s ability to protect that right.”

But the “right” would not be established unless the person seeking to save his or her view took the steps outlined in the ordinance. “The right to a view comes with some strings attached,” she said. “You have to first go through this process.”

The Planning Commission will meet at 7 p.m. today in City Council chambers, City Hall, 505 Forest Ave.

Information: (714) 497-0712.