Overhead power lines tower over Laguna Canyon Road, south of Laguna College of Art + Design in Laguna Beach. The lines have long been a safety and aesthetic concern for Laguna Beach residents and officials. More than 2,000 residents have undergone the lengthy, costly process to underground their utilities. Downed power lines may have been a cause of the recent brush fire in South Laguna. (File Photo by H. Lorren Au Jr, Orange County Register/SCNG)

Laguna Beach fire truck blocks Agate Street at South Coast Highway after power lines come down. (Photo by Erika I. ritchie.)

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Laguna Beach city councilman Bob Whalen is backdropped by power lines on Thalia Street and Temple Hills. He wants the city to bury the lines to prevent fires like the recent ones in Northern California.(Photo by Mindy Schauer, Orange County Register/SCNG)

A hodgepodge of wiring hangs over narrow residential roads like Crestwood Place in Laguna Beach. Officials want to bury power lines to prevent fires like the recent ones in Northern California.(Photo by Mindy Schauer, Orange County Register/SCNG)

A hodgepodge of wiring hangs over narrow residential roads like 8th street in Laguna Beach. Officials want to bury power lines to prevent fires like the recent ones in Northern California.(Photo by Mindy Schauer, Orange County Register/SCNG)



A hodgepodge of wiring hangs over narrow residential roads like 8th street in Laguna Beach. Officials want to bury power lines to prevent fires like the recent ones in Northern California.(Photo by Mindy Schauer, Orange County Register/SCNG)

With the Pacific Ocean in the background, drivers head up Thalia Street in Laguna Beach Thursday. Overhead power lines here and elsewhere in the city have long been a safety and aesthetic concern for city residents and officials. Downed power lines may have been a cause of the recent brush fire in South Laguna. (File Photo by H. Lorren Au Jr, Orange County Register/SCNG)

LAGUNA BEACH — An ordinance that would raise the sales tax of this tourist destination to 8.75 percent — among the highest in Orange County — will go before the City Council in June to be considered for the November ballot as a way to pay for a $135 million project to bury power lines.

After nearly three hours of public testimony and council discussions, Tuesday, May 22, the Laguna Beach City Council voted 5-0 to direct city staff to prepare an ordinance for placing a one-cent dedicated sales tax on the ballot to generate funds to underground overhead utilities along Laguna Canyon Road and other major evacuation routes. The sales tax increase would put Laguna Beach on par with Westminster, Fountain Valley, La Palma and Stanton as the highest in the county.

Above-ground power lines are considered an extreme fire risk to the city.

Tuesday’s discussion followed a second community survey showing two-thirds of residents supported a one cent sales tax that would contribute $5.6 million of the $8 million needed to start the project (the remainder would come from other city money) and would mostly be financed by tourists.

Two other funding options — a $35 million bond that would cost homeowners about $11 per $100,000 of assessed market value or using existing city revenue — failed to receive majority support in the survey.

The council also voted to form two undergrounding assessment districts using Rule 20 A credits — credits given by utility companies that would be purchased from other cities and combined with existing city revenue — to bury utilities in neighborhoods in Woods Cove and South Laguna. The council voted unanimously, 5-0 and 4-0, in separate votes, with Councilwoman Toni Iseman recusing herself from the Woods Cove vote.

Nearly 50 residents spoke at the meeting, and were nearly split on the issue.

Some who have already paid to bury power lines through assessment districts questioned having to pay again. Others wondered what impacts new technology could bring in the next 30 years — the time in which the city could pay its debt back over the term of issued bonds — that would make burying the power lines unnecessary.

Others suggested the city’s push to bury power lines was fear mongering partly to beautify the town and others complained that a recent classification of Laguna Beach as a “high-fire zone” has caused insurance premiums to skyrocket or to be canceled.

Michael Morris, who spoke on behalf of S.T.O.P. (Stop Taxing Our Property), urged that power lines be buried as part of local assessment districts.

“The project has not had a cost-benefit analysis done,” he said. “The entire project has been fear-based. One-cent tax raises $5.6 million and two-thirds is paid by visitors and tourists — this is not proven.”

Others, including Karen Klammer, who spoke on behalf of Underground Laguna Now, reminded residents of what happened during the 1993 fire which burned 400 homes and caused $528 million in damage.

“One fallen pole can block hundreds of families,” she said. “It only takes one pole. We remember how horrifying it was and how sure we were it would never happen to us.”

Placing utility lines and transformers underground has been a hot topic for three years in a town that draws more than 6.5 million visitors annually. Above-ground power lines are seen as the greatest threat to the community recently classified by Cal Fire as being among the most fire prone in the state. Efforts by the city to get utility companies to absorb the cost have been unsuccessful and attempts to generate help from Sacramento in the form of legislation was vetoed by the governor.

City leaders have determined the only way to bury utilities is to pay for it locally.

“This is not something that has been sprung on the community,” said Councilman Bob Whalen, who has spearheaded the city’s efforts. “I don’t want to go through life opposed to things. I’m for fire safety. Will there be aesthetic improvements? Yes, there probably will be. It’s an issue of concern — it should be put before the voters.”

Whalen countered the claim of fear mongering saying it was fear mongering on the other side to claim the project could bankrupt the city.

“Done as a special tax, it requires a two-thirds vote,” he said. “Tonight is voting to ask staff to move ahead with a draft ordinance. In June, we require four votes to move ahead.”