City to review planning

Newport Beach voters would get to decide at the ballot on at least

two of 10 proposals in a plan that could guide the future development

of the city through 2025.

The planning commission and City Council today will hold the first

of two special meetings to discuss which proposals they want in the

city’s general plan, which lays out what kinds of development are

allowed in the city.

An update of the plan has been underway since 2002. An ad hoc

advisory committee and city staff members recently made their

recommendations for how 10 sub-areas of the city should develop.

Proposals for two of those areas -- the John Wayne Airport area

and Newport Center -- would increase the permitted number of

residential units; the Newport Center proposal would also see a boost

in the amount of retail space. Those changes would trigger a

so-called Greenlight vote.

Measure S, known as the Greenlight law, requires a public vote on

any proposal that adds at least 1,000 dwelling units, 100 peak-hour

car trips or 40,000 square feet more than the existing general plan

allows.

The recommendations were based on a 2002 phone survey of

residents, a public workshop held in June, research by the city and

consultants, and input from the ad hoc committee.

Among the suggestions are:

* Creating more of a “gateway to the city” along Coast Highway in

West Newport and turning an existing mobile home park into part of

the proposed Orange County River Park.

* Increasing the building height limit in the West Newport

industrial area from three to five stories.

* Adding parking in Corona del Mar, both surface lots and parking

structures.

* Offering incentives for marine-related business to come to or

remain in several areas along the water, including McFadden Square on

the Balboa Peninsula and Balboa Village.

* Limiting further office development at Newport Center but

allowing up to 600 more housing units and 125,000 additional square

feet of retail space.

* Turning the 518-acre Banning Ranch property into open space,

possibly with up to 875 housing units.

* Allowing up to 3,300 more residential units plus more industrial

and hotel uses in the airport area, while significantly reducing the

amount of retail and office space permitted.

The airport and Newport Center proposals would have to go to

voters for approval, but the City Council would decide whether those

and any other proposals are voted on separately or as a package,

Assistant City Manager Sharon Wood said.

If the plan’s suggestions are adopted, they would reduce the

projected number of daily car trips citywide by 3.5% compared with

the development that’s already allowed, Wood said. If everything in

the existing general plan were to be built, it would generate 882,743

more trips per day than the city now sees. The new proposals would

add only 851,372 trips per day.

But Greenlight backers still are fearful the proposals will allow

development to overwhelm city transportation systems and block views

of the bay. Phil Arst, a spokesman for the citizens’ committee that

backed Measure S, said he’s alarmed in particular by the housing

suggested near the airport.

“That’ll change the very nature of the city, putting all those

housing units there,” Arst said. “There are a lot of questions. Maybe

the point is what the plan is doing is counter to the expressed

preferences of the residents and it creates extensive traffic

congestion, which is something everyone wants to avoid.”

A second meeting on the general plan proposals is set for Aug. 30.

The council’s suggestions from the two meetings will be studied in

more detail and an environmental report written on their potential

effects. Public hearings and final council vote will come next

summer, Wood said.

Mayor John Heffernan said he’s encouraged the city to speed up the

process so the entire plan could be ready to go on the November 2006

general election ballot.

IF YOU GO

WHAT: Discussion on proposals for updating Newport Beach’s general

plan

WHEN: Planning commission meets at 4 p.m.; City Council convenes

at 7 p.m.

WHERE: City Council Chambers, 3300 Newport Blvd.

INFO: Visit o7www.nbvision 2025.comf7 for reports on the

proposals. A second meeting is set for Aug. 30.

* ALICIA ROBINSON covers government and politics. She may be

reached at (714) 966-4626 or by e-mail at

[email protected].