Appeal puts brush clearing plan on hold

A brush-clearing project intended to buffer houses from potential fires in Nyes and Oro canyons is on hold after a Laguna Beach resident last week appealed the matter to the California Coastal Commission.

According to his appeal, dated July 6, Marc Wright alleges the project is “inconsistent with several sections of the city of Laguna Beach Local Coastal Program and related sections of the California Code,” including those having to do with residential hillside protection, zoning, trees and vegetation, and public lands.

Wright is appealing the Design Review Board’s May 7 approval of a coastal development permit for the 22-acre project. Under the plan, crews would clear non-native and dead or dying brush by hand, preserving the root systems, in areas extending 100 feet from the edge of residential zones into undeveloped, steep-sloped canyons, according to a city staff report.

The goal is to thin vegetation in the area by 50%.

Laguna Beach City Council members Tuesday night vowed to support the buffer plan if the Coastal Commission determines that Wright’s appeal warrants a comprehensive review of the project. It is unclear when the commission might take up the issue, but it has a planned meeting for Aug. 12 through 14 in Chula Vista.

If the commission determines a substantial problem exists, it could discuss the project then or schedule a future hearing, commission analyst Meg Vaughn said.

In June, the City Council voted to spend $768,000 and an additional $110,000 in each of the next two fiscal years on the fuel break.

City staff, at the council’s direction, will research whether it’s legal to start clearing some of the brush before the commission rules on the appeal.

“This is a critical step to take,” Mayor Bob Whalen said. “For us not to address it puts our neighbors in imminent threat of danger.”

Wright declined to give further details about the appeal. .