Kayak proposal resurfaces

A proposal for a kayak rental business on Treasure Island Beach was shipped off to the Planning Commission on Oct. 7.

The City Council recommended that the owner of a kayak rental business take his case to the commission in spite of dire warnings from the city manager that the project as proposed would never hold water with the California Coastal Commission. The commission does not approve of commercial enterprises on beaches and the proposal flouts the Treasure Island Local Coastal Plan.

“Go back to the commission and say we made a mistake or just issue a [conditional use permit],” said Billy Fried, owner of La Vida Laguna, a company that has provided kayaks for rent in Laguna for seven years.

Fried’s business was overlooked by the city and the coastal commission when the kayaks were launched from North Laguna beaches. He ran into problems after expanding the business to Treasure Island, which Fried said is one of only two safe places in Laguna to launch kayaks.

The city code does not ban kayaking, according to City Manager Ken Frank, anyone can schlep them from highway to the water with impunity, but the code does prohibit conducting business on the beaches. And Frank said he has begun to receive complaints from North Laguna residents.

“Kayaking has a very small footprint,” said Dan Oztelie. “Kayaks are brought down in the morning and rolled up at night.”

There are no strictures against an off-beach office making appointments and collecting fees, with kayaks available to be transported to the beach. Fried contended that surf and scuba diving lessons are conducted on the beaches — even yoga classes.

“It’s one thing to take people surfing. It is another to do business on the beach,” said Laguna Beach Heritage Committee member Bonnie Hano. Signs, storage on the beach for kayaks and the exchange of money are the sticking points.

“I don’t think this is about kayaking, it is about commercializing the beaches,” Hano said.

Frank recommended against pursuing the kayaking franchises, saving already constrained staff time and avoiding a pitched battle with the coastal commission.

Other options:

 Amend the local coastal plan to allow a minimum of commercial operations if approved by the council at the beaches near Treasure Island’s Goff Island — a process estimated by Frank to take 18 months and a great deal of staff time.

 Interpret the language in the plan, “commercial uses and structures” to exempt a specific franchise approved by the council and direct Frank to solicit franchise proposals for kayak service at the Goff Island location.

Iseman, a former member of the coastal commission, said the commission has so much backlog that an appeal would be buried behind other more pressing issues.

“If we do it with a wink and a nod — I don’t think we want to send that kind of message,” Mayor Jane Egly said. “If anyone should abide by the law, it is us.”

The last option was Frank’s second choice. It would require substantially less time. The disadvantage is that without an approved amendment, the coastal commission could preclude the franchise on an appeal. Frank concluded the second and third options had little chance of coming to fruition. So the council came up with a fourth.

“Send it to the Planning Commission and see if they can come up with a [temporary use permit], which has council support,” Mayor Pro Tem Cheryl Kinsman said.

The option overrode Frank’s objection that a temporary use permit could not be granted for city property. However Councilwoman Elizabeth Pearson pointed out the city approves TUPs for the use of the Cobblestone area at Main Beach, which are issued to nonprofit organizations, restricted to no more than 16 days a year and no more than two days in a single month.

BARBARA DIAMOND can be reached at (949) 494-4321 or [email protected].