Frequently Asked Questions

City Hall is open from 7:30 AM - 5:30 PM Monday through Thursday, and alternate Fridays from 8:00 AM - 5:00 PM.

City Hall is closed on alternate Friday and holidays.

You can access the Inspector's Run List on the Building Division Page of City's website at: https://permits.lagunahillsca.gov/EnerGov_Prod/SelfService#/inspection/todaysinspections

The City of Laguna Hills is a General Law City that operates under the Council/Manager form of government. The voters elect five Laguna Hills residents to the City Council for overlapping four-year terms. The Council, in turn, selects one of its members to serve as Mayor for a one-year term. For the current City Council, please click here.

Regular City Council Meetings and Planning Agency Meetings are held on the second and fourth Tuesday of each month. Community Services, Historical, and Arts Commission Meetings are held bimonthly on the first Wednesday of February, April, June, August, October, and December. Traffic Commission Meetings are held bimonthly on the third Wednesday of January, March, May, July, September, and November. All meetings begin at 6:00 p.m. in the City Council Chambers located at City Hall, 24035 El Toro Rd., Laguna Hills, CA 92653. For City Council/Planning Agency contact Jennifer Lee at (949) 707-2635 or jlee@lagunahillsca.gov. For Parks & Recreation Commission contact Jessica Cardenas at (949) 707-2681 or jcardenas@lagunahillsca.gov. For Traffic Commission contact Julie Comella at (949) 707-2651 or jcomella@lagunahillsca.gov.

The address is 4601 Jamboree Road, Newport Beach, CA 92660

The City of Laguna Hills contracts with the Orange County Sheriff's Department for all of its law enforcement needs. The Sheriff's Department is responsible for providing for the protection of citizens, the enforcement of laws and crime prevention. Law enforcement services include patrol, criminal investigations, traffic enforcement, traffic accident analysis and investigation, parking enforcement, and the use of specialized units when necessary.

In the event of an emergency or if a crime is in progress, call 9-1-1 immediately. For non-emergency situations, such as vandalism or disturbing the peace, contact Orange County Sheriff’s Dispatch at (949) 770-6011.

If an officer took a report at the scene, you will receive a Case Number. The report is submitted to the Traffic Investigation Office in Aliso Viejo at (949) 425-1860. After approval by a Traffic Investigator, the report becomes available through the Orange County Sheriff’s Records Division at (714) 834-6454, usually 10–14 working days after the incident.

Visit http://citationprocessingcenter.com/index.aspx and have your citation number and license plate number ready.

For more details about your citation, including instructions, please refer to the back of the citation.

Restraining orders are issued by a Superior Court Judge. For further information, call (714) 935-7956.

If a vehicle has been impounded due to an unlicensed driver, suspended license or any other traffic violation and it was towed from within Laguna Hills, please contact the Laguna Hills Police Services Administrative Sergeant at (949) 707-2642. 

You will need to obtain the vehicle license plate number or VIN. The VIN (Vehicle Identification Number) is indicated on your vehicle registration form or pink slip. Call the Orange County Sheriff’s Dispatch desk at (949) 770-6011 to confirm that the vehicle was towed, why it was towed and the name and phone number of the tow company. 

Then contact the tow company to find out what will be required to get the car back. If there is a “hold” on the vehicle and it was towed from within Laguna Hills, contact the Administrative Sergeant for Laguna Hills at (949) 707-2642. If there is a “hold” on the vehicle and it was towed from any city other than Laguna Hills, contact the Administrative Sergeant for the city in which the tow originated.

California law states that vehicles parked on the street for over 72 hours may be considered abandoned. Contact Orange County Sheriff’s Dispatch at (949) 770-6011 with the vehicle’s location and description. Officers will check if the vehicle is stolen, confirm registration, and mark the tires. If the vehicle remains, it may be cited 72 hours after being marked and eventually towed at the owner’s expense.

Complete the Trespass Authorization Arrest Form have it notarized, and return it to the Laguna Hills Administrative Sergeant. Once the form is on file, deputies are authorized to take enforcement action if individuals are trespassing on your property without permission.

Request a copy of your report through the Orange County Sheriff’s Department Records Bureau. Reports can be requested online, by mail, or in person at 320 N. Flower St., Santa Ana. Before requesting a copy, please call the Records Unit at (714) 834-6454 to confirm availability. Phone lines are open Monday–Friday from 8:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m., though office doors close at 4:00 p.m. Fees may apply, and some reports are only available to authorized parties.

For additional information, visit OCSD Report Request Guidelines.

A request for a signed IRS W-9 Form from the City of Laguna Hills may be emailed to: ehendrikson@lagunahillsca.gov. Please provide a fax number and we will fax the signed request to the fax number you provide. Please note, we will not email the signed form for security reasons. However, upon special request, we may mail a hard copy. The request is usually completed within 2 business days.

The City of Laguna Hills does not require a business license; however, we do require that all businesses within the City obtain a Certificate of Use and Occupancy (PDF). If you have any questions about how to fill out or submit the application packet, please contact the Planning Division at planning@lagunahillsca.gov.

Yes, all rates will be affected - residential, multifamily and commercial. These rates cover the costs of yard waste and food waste recycling services and the processing of those materials.

Yes. All residential and multi-family properties and commercial businesses across the state are required to recycle organic waste generated onsite.

Per SB 1383, residents are required to receive food waste cart service.  There are no discounted options at this time. Residents may also utilize backyard, small-scale, and community composting systems to recycle their food scraps.  

SB 1383 requires uniformed cart colors across the state for both residential and commercial services. Blue will signify recycling, green or brown for organics, and black for trash.  This consistency will help reduce confusion and contamination of recycling across the state.

Basically, If It Grows, It Goes!

Food scrap counter top pails can be purchased at stores like Walmart, Home Depot, and Amazon.  More easily, you can repurpose a container or bowl you have at home to collect food scraps.

No plastic bags are accepted.  We prefer you to use no bags at all. If you need to mitigate odor or the "yuck" factor, recycled brown paper bags are acceptable. You can use certified BPI compostable bags as well.

Yes, all yard/grass clippings, gardening, and tree trimmings should still be placed in your green organics container. Please note that palm fronds and logs/stumps are NOT accepted; place these in your trash cart if they fit.

It is the regular process of determining the lines of voting districts in accordance with population shifts. In California, public agencies and other organizations must divide the lines of their districts according to the results of the Decennial Census, so that each council district is substantially equal in population. This ensures that each elected official represents about the same number of constituents. All district lines must be reviewed to meet strict requirements for population equality and voting rights protections in accordance with the federal Voting Rights Act and the California Elections Code.

A by-district election process means voters within a designated City Council electoral district elect one City Council member who must also reside in and be a registered voter of that district.

The City of Laguna Hills currently elects City Council members through an at-large election process, which means that each voter has a vote to elect each member of the City Council.

Racially polarized voting exists when voters of different racial or ethnic groups exhibit very different candidate preferences or voting practices in an election.

Many factors may be considered, but population equality is required. Other factors include:

1.   Federal Laws

• Equal Population (based on total population of residents as determined by the most recent Federal decennial Census and adjusted by the State to reassign incarcerated persons to the last known place of residence)
• Federal Voting Rights Act
• No Racial Gerrymandering

2.   California Criteria for Cities (to the extent practicable and in the following order of priority)

• Geographically contiguous (areas that meet only at the points of adjoining corners are not contiguous. Areas that are separated by water and not connected by a bridge, tunnel, or ferry service are not contiguous.
• Undivided neighborhoods and “communities of interest” (Socio-economic geographic areas that should be kept together for purposes of its effective and fair representation)
• Easily identifiable boundaries
• Compact (Do not bypass one group of people to get to a more distant group of people)
• Prohibited: “Shall not favor or discriminate against a political party.”

3.   Other Traditional Redistricting Principles

• Minimize voters shifted to different election years
• Respect voters’ choices / continuity in office
• Future population growth

A community of interest is a “contiguous population that shares common social and economic interests that should be included within a single district for purposes of its effective and fair representation.” They are the overlapping sets of neighborhoods, networks, and groups that share interests, views, cultures, histories, languages, and values and whose boundaries can be identified on a map. The following elements help define communities of interest:

• shared interests in schools, housing, community safety, transit, health conditions, land use, environmental conditions, and/or other issues;
• common social and civic networks, including churches, mosques, temples, homeowner associations, and community centers, and shared use of community spaces, like parks and shopping centers;
• racial and ethnic compositions, cultural identities, and households that predominantly speak a language other than English;
• similar socio-economic status, including but not limited to income, home-ownership, and education levels;
• shared political boundary lines from other jurisdictions, such as school districts, community college districts, and water districts

Please contact us if you have any questions or need help understanding the process.  You can email us at districting@lagunahillsca.gov . We encourage the public to reach out to us, we need your input.  Input can also be given during the public hearing portion of the City Council meetings.  

• ACS: American Community Survey
• CDP: Census Designated Place
• CDR: Center for Democracy Research
• CVAP: Citizen Voting Age Population
• CVRA: California Voting Rights Act
• FAIR MAPS Act: Fair and Inclusive Redistricting for Municipalities and Political Subdivisions (applies to cities and counties)
• NH: Non-Hispanic 
• P.L. 94-171: Public Law 94-171
• ROV: Registrar of Voters
• SWDB: California Statewide Database
• VAP: Voting age population