Emerald Bay Gate Improvements Get Green Light

In a matter that has proved extraordinarily divisive to Emerald Bay residents since 2011, Laguna Beachs City Council voted 3-1 on Tuesday to approve proposed road improvements at the gated communitys main entry, which do not include a controversial traffic signal as originally envisioned.

The Council approved specific design review and coastal development permits for the project with conditions and stipulated that a new coastal development permit would have to be obtained if a signal is proposed in the future.

Council member Toni Iseman dissented.

Council member Bob Whalen recused himself and left Council chambers since he works for a law firm that represents a governing board within Emerald Bay.

While the proposed improvements at the intersection of Shamrock Road and North Coast Highway are intended to improve safety and efficiency along with siphoning entering cars off Coast Highway, the project initially included a hotly protested Coast Highway traffic signal for the intersection.

City officials and staff began meeting with the Emerald Bay Community Association over the initial project in July 2011. In response to safety concerns raised by citizens, in March 2012 the Council agreed to pay $15,000 to hire an independent traffic engineering firm to review the proposal.

In the wake of the Fehr and Peers report, the council agreed to intersection improvements to relieve the daily traffic backup that occurs outside the gatehouse, but refused to green-light the installation of a traffic signal, which would require a coastal development permit. They also directed staff to work with EBCA to implement new gate procedures, install intersection improvements with no traffic signal, and monitor the intersection for a period of time.

The city holds jurisdiction over the 100-foot-wide right-of-way along Coast Highway that bisects Emerald Bay.

A number of the ECBAs proposed improvements fall outside the citys jurisdiction, such as moving the guardhouse north by 40 feet to improve queuing distance on Shamrock Road, and widening and reconfiguring the road to allow additional lanes, among other measures.

Improvements within city jurisdiction include reconfiguring Coast Highway by lengthening turn-lane pockets and the southbound acceleration lane as well as a adding a median with curb and gutter for the southbound protected left-turn pocket, the most controversial of the improvements. Other improvements include installation of three 33-foot light poles with 12-foot arched mast arms, chosen because they could not accommodate a future traffic signal.

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Emerald Bay Gate Improvements Get Green Light