LAGUNA BEACH

Parking Plan Scaled Down: The City Council has scaled down a plan to add more parking spaces to the crowded downtown area after store owners voiced fears over possible traffic congestion. Council members on Tuesday rejected a plan to convert Ocean Avenue south of Forest Avenue to a one-way street, allowing for angled parking that would create about 30 new parking spots. The council did vote 4 to 1, however, to convert Ocean Avenue to one-way-only traffic from Forest Avenue to Beach Street, a plan that will add about 15 new spaces. Although the scaled-down project will cost about $4,500, adding an equivalent number of spaces downtown through construction of a parking garage would cost several times that amount, city officials say.