Laguna Beach's Forest Avenue Goes Pedestrian, Outdoor Dining

LAGUNA BEACH, CA — The city of Laguna Beach is thinking outside of the box in an attempt to save area restaurants.

During the coronavirus shutdown, Laguna Beach restaurants have sought to maintain their customers amid unprecedented challenges. Now that business is ready to ramp up again, Assistant City Manager Shohreh Dupuis, with City Councilwoman Sue Kempf are working to close lower Forest Avenue to cars and open it up to outdoor dining. During this week's city council meeting, it was decided to take $25,000 for the concept budget.

Forest Avenue is one of the main roads through Laguna Beach, another section of town that receives primary income during tourist season. According to a report from the Orange County Register the new idea has the precedent of a 2017 project on Park Avenue.

Restaurants on Forest Avenue offer intimate dining experiences, and reduction of tables is detrimental to many.

As far as Forest Avenue is concerned, the discussion revolved around turning it into an outdoor plaza. Restaurants can space out tables and serve diners with ample social distancing. Without it, the concern is many restaurants will ultimately fail.

According to Kempf, restaurants who rely on in-house dining "won't be able to pay their bills" with reduced seating needed to comply with social distancing.

Retailers would also share the love by closing to nothing but foot traffic.

"Every retailer would benefit," Moulin owner Laurent Vrignaud said during the meeting. Though not all who spoke on the issue agreed, the majority favored the idea during the council meeting.

40 parking spaces would be lost in an area already starving for parking. The Laguna Beach Planning Commission will need to work out details on sanitizing outdoor tables, and monitoring loiterers, and a preliminary concept was expected for review at the May 26 meeting.

After the cancellation of the Pageant of the Masters for the summer, The Sawdust Festival and Art-Affair are working to remain open, having submitted their plans to the city to allow for continued operation.