Protect Laguna Beach's Historic Buildings

Please make a tax-deductible donation toward a lawsuit that would protect Laguna Beach's historic buildings and downtown. The City Council and the California Coastal Commission recently approved developer-fueled changes that:

 

remove protections for hundreds of historic resources, including 38 buildings in the downtown;

allow additional stories on downtown buildings without considering their historic status;

eliminate parking requirements that incentivize historic preservation;

make historic preservation "voluntary."

 

Our lawsuit would overturn these changes to Laguna's Local Coastal Program, which violate both the California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA) and the Coastal Act.

A donor has agreed to contribute $20,000 to our efforts; we need to raise $30,000 more. Our lawsuit will help ensure that the historic fabric of Laguna Beach, recognized as a “Historic American Landscape” by the National Park Service in 2017 and enjoyed by millions of visitors as well as residents, will not be destroyed. Thank you!

 

Our attorney Susan Brandt-Hawley is the preeminent CEQA attorney for historic preservation. Her cases have set precedent in over forty published opinions, including six cases in the California Supreme Court.

You can find out more about the lawsuit and our efforts to preserve Laguna's historic resources here