Community Land Trust aims to keep artists in Laguna
By SPENCER GRANT and MARA CASEY
Photos by Spencer Grant
In a city where for years the high school football team was called The Artists, you can’t think about Laguna Beach without thinking about artists. They’re the heart and soul of the city – a city that’s rapidly getting too expensive for many of these essential residents. Laguna is called an art colony, but what is an art colony without artists?
The City Council is moving to address this problem by the establishment of a Community Land Trust, a non-profit organization that acquires and holds properties for the benefit of the community at below-market real estate prices, providing low-cost housing for artists, seniors and the city’s currently nonresident workforce.
“Housing affordability is one of the most pressing challenges facing Laguna Beach and the establishment of the trust is a meaningful step toward a long-term solution,” said Mayor Alex Rounaghi.
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(L-R) Planning Commissioner/artist Jorg Dubin and Mayor Pro Tem Mark Orgill, advocates of the Community Land Trust, stroll down Forest Avenue
Mayor Pro Tem Mark Orgill’s current priority is the shrinking availability of artist workspace. “A couple of properties at 2535 and 2307 Laguna Canyon Road have come up for sale, and combined, those two properties can house 82 artists, mostly workshops with some living space,” said Orgill. “I went to the city and said, ‘Can we analyze these to see if the land trust could acquire them?’ If we can’t do something with those spaces, that would pretty much wipe out the artist space in town. We’re in the middle of that right now; it’s been a long escrow period.”
A funding option involves the Visitors Bureau’s tourist marketing district, with a self-assessed tax that the hotels charge guests, but a new trend within the bureau is reinvesting in the community. “And so I said to the City Council, “Well, guys, why don’t we reinvest some of this money into the artists because if we lose all the artists, we’re going to lose the core foundation of Laguna,” said Orgill. “So they will contribute for 10 years, and a certain percentage goes toward artist housing.”
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Jorg Dubin in his workspace at 2535 Laguna Canyon Road
This year, the investment is $280,000. The city would loan the trust the money based on the rent the artists pay. Then the city would get a loan based on the rent that’s being charged. The $280,000 from the Visitors Bureau, would be enough to get a loan and repay the city’s investment. Although the two properties would be selling for close to $4,000,000 each, repayment would be made over a decade with the $280,000 increasing by 9% annually.
Partnering with Orgill as liaison with the city’s creative community is Planning Commission/artist Jorg Dubin. “We’re also trying to bring more community awareness to the trust, asking citizens if they want to preserve Laguna as an art colony,” said Dubin. “If you have interest in being part of the trust, there are tax deductible ways of potentially contributing to the trust to help pay back the city.” Another community involvement would be serving on the Community Trust’s new board, currently being recruited by Orgill and fellow City Councilmember Bob Whalen.
Dubin explained the Laguna Canyon properties: “They were built in 1975 and 1981 – small, light industrial units of 550 to 700 square feet; that have been occupied mainly by artists and craftsmen ever since they’ve been built. Here in Laguna, there are certain artistic endeavors that require a place where you can make a mess, where you can make noise, where you don’t bother the neighbors.
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“There’s never an issue with empty spaces in these complexes. The minute one comes up, it’s gone the next day.
“There are very few of these properties in Laguna Beach, so when the owners decided to sell them, it became imperative to try to preserve them for the art community. If a private developer came and purchased the properties, the artists would be out because the first thing they would probably do is double the rent. They’re not inexpensive now, but they’re still affordable for the artists. About 65 or 70 professional full-time artists would be seriously impacted if these three properties disappeared into some private development company’s portfolio.”
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Zoned M1-A, this is a street view of the artist live/workspaces at 2535 Laguna Canyon Road. At this location there is a mixture of artist live/work and solely workspaces.
Dubin worries that “We’ve become a community of second and third homes for people, a community of wealthy retirees. It changes the complexion of the community if they don’t support the creatives that make Laguna what it is. When these properties came up for sale, it all of a sudden became an imperative. And the City Council agreed that the city needs to start to do something to preserve our cultural heritage.”
Abstract artist Katlin Evans describes her continuing search for affordable workspace: “For a long time I used my mother’s garage and then she passed away, and I was lucky enough to get a space from a friend who made room in his studio for me and then he passed away. And then I ended up here at 2535 Laguna Canyon Road opposite Jorg, and it’s heaven. When I found out the owner had passed away and that the kids were going to sell the property, I started looking in Santa Ana, Costa Mesa and everywhere in between.
“There was really nothing out there that was affordable, plus they wouldn’t rent to artists. I didn’t find anything that I could work in and be messy,” said Evans, who uses power tools. “I’m painting. I’m sanding. It’s not a clean business. If the trust doesn’t go through, I would probably have to leave. I grew up in this town, and it would be sad to have to leave because I don’t have a workplace. I spend $765 to be in this 500-square-ft. space a month.
“I’m shocked by the prices that people are trying to get in this town. There’s a place across the street from where I live now, a two-bedroom. It’s tiny, they want $3,800 a month for it. And it’s like, you’re kidding. It’s falling apart.”
According to Dubin, “Artists can adapt to almost anything! Small is no issue. Artists do what they have to to survive in Laguna.”
