Greenlight alternative OKd for fall ballot

NEWPORT BEACH -- An alternative to the so-called Greenlight initiative

has qualified for the November ballot, setting the stage for a political

showdown over traffic and development rights this fall.

The city clerk’s office announced Wednesday that of the 9,212

signatures gathered in support of the Traffic Phasing Ordinance measure

during a six-week campaign, 7,064 were deemed valid. The signature count

was just 300 more than what was needed to place the measure on the

ballot.

“We’ll be battling it out with the Greenlight people,” said former

mayor Clarence Turner, a coauthor of the measure.

If the competing measure is victorious, it would not only make

Newport’s traffic law part of the City Charter, but it would also nullify

the Greenlight measure if it were also to pass.

Touted by proponents as the toughest traffic ordinance in the county,

the existing traffic law requires developers to pay for road improvements

to prevent added traffic congestion created by that developer’s project.

Adding the Traffic Phasing Ordinance to the charter would guarantee it

could be changed only with a vote of the people.

But Greenlight proponents contend the ordinance, implemented more than

20 years ago, was “gutted” last year when the Newport Beach City Council

amended it to ensure it would stand up to legal challenges.

The revised ordinance was what drove a group of community activists to

join forces and draft the Greenlight initiative. The measure proposes to

give voters the final say on certain major developments, even if the

Planning Commission and City Council voted in favor of the development.

However, some current and past city officials -- including Turner and

former mayor Tom Edwards -- say Greenlight is poorly designed and will

halt development in the city.

Greenlight proponents say they aren’t worried about the competing

measure. Phil Arst, a spokesman for the group and a former council

candidate, said Greenlight advocates have assumed the Traffic Phasing

Ordinance measure would appear on the ballot.