Some growth needs a vote

What if you gave a party and 30,000 people came? What if they stayed at the party permanently and brought 200,000 extra daily auto trips to our crowded city streets? Well, that is exactly what the party planners at Newport Beach City Hall, the burgeoning city bureaucracy, business and developer supporters, many appointed to city committees, and presumably the City Council, have in mind if city residents can be calmed into apathy and the proposed general plan update is approved by the voters. The city has used our tax dollars to fund a $500,000 public relations campaign to achieve this result. Hmm.

On March 3, in a Pilot Community Commentary, John W. Nelson attempted a wordy assault on Greenlight and its proposed initiative to close the new general plan’s pro-growth loopholes. Unfortunately, he chose to misstate repeatedly Greenlight’s limited proposal and to attack its supporters. In doing so, he confused the messenger and the message and insulted local voters.

Greenlight’s original initiative charter amendment allowed local voters a vote on a very small percentage of developments seeking to amend our current general plan. It passed with 63% of the vote. Subsequently, 67% of our voters reject a high-rise office complex at one of our busiest intersections and a hotel replacing a park on a harbor-side beach. In the meantime, the city has issued hundreds of building permits, and no litigation testing the Greenlight initiative has been filed ? or is likely in today’s legal environment.

The development and business interests are now trying to trump the protections of Greenlight and those votes by amending the general plan in part to open the floodgates to pre-approved, virtually uncontrolled growth in large areas of our city by permitting a 35% population increase and 200,000 more daily auto trips.

What part of no don’t they understand?

Greenlight supports amending the general plan in most regards but is trying to preserve our beach-city atmosphere with another initiative to close the proposed general-plan loopholes that have major developers standing in line to crawl through.

As one example, do you want the airport area filled with multi-story, high-density apartment-condos similar to those in Irvine on Jamboree Road between MacArthur and the San Diego Freeway (405)? The new residents will place massive burdens on our roads, parking, beaches, parks, establishment, and airport use. Do you want Newport Beach to become the valet capital of O.C.? Smart growth, yes. Unreasonable growth ? let the people decide.

The city has enhanced the problem by hiring even more employees without funding the badly needed capital improvements necessary to mitigate the existing traffic and pollution problems created here and elsewhere. Six major intersections are operating below mandated city standards. More than a dozen others are close. Others will follow. While the liberally staffed city bureaucracy and its generous retirement plans grow, they push for a new expensive city hall complex. However, there is no plan for adequately funding needed road improvements, much less those required by the proposed extraordinary growth.

Greenlight merely wants to continue a policy that allows voters to decide on about 1% of developments. Greenlight supports representative government and does not want to run city government, or give voters a direct say in 99% of the projects that allow growth within reasonable bounds. It merely seeks to give the voters a say on those few high-impact developments that can substantially affect our quality of life. Nelson outrageously misstated several times that the Greenlight-sponsored initiative applies to all developments, thus grossly distorting Greenlight’s intent and practice.

Voters, what kind of party do you want? Help yourself and all of our residents by signing the petition to place Greenlight on the ballot. Then listen to the arguments and see if the facts justify giving voters a choice on major projects.

Developers, please stop the personal smears and misstatements. Instead, try presenting the facts without distortion.

Daily Pilot editors, please level the playing field by giving this letter a headline in size and location equal to Nelson’s “Greenlight II is dangerous for Newport.” How about: “Massive development is dangerous for Newport.”