Laguna Beach council continues appeal to Feb. 24 to allow competing historic reports to be reviewed

The Laguna Beach City Council voted unanimously to continue Appeal A to its Feb. 24 meeting and to direct staff to release the applicant’s newly commissioned historic report and provide an opportunity for the original city consultant to respond to GPA’s peer-review critique.

Bob Whalen, a councilmember who led the motion, said earlier peer review had raised questions about whether the original HRG analysis had performed sufficient comparative analysis. “The appellants ... are saying HRG ought to have a chance to respond to the GPA critique,” Whalen said during the discussion.

Matt Schneider, director of community development, told council staff had not yet received the applicant’s new report and had not predetermined a review path. “Once we receive that, we typically have it peer reviewed,” Schneider said, adding staff will make the document available to interested parties and can facilitate HRG’s response where appropriate.

Councilmembers debated who should perform peer review and whether the original reviewer should be invited to the hearing. Council ultimately adopted language that continues the appeal to Feb. 24 and directs staff to arrange for HRG to respond to GPA’s critique and to ensure both consultants can appear at the continued hearing.

The action is procedural: no final determination on the historic resource was made. The continuance preserves council’s ability to consider competing consultant analyses after staff completes document posting and peer-review steps.