Mathis Winkler
NEWPORT BEACH -- The city may set up a committee to recommend
guidelines for the implementation of the slow-growth Greenlight measure.
Mayor John Noyes could appoint the committee's members at the Nov. 28
council meeting. Council members are expected to ask City Atty. Bob
Burnham at tonight's City Council meeting to prepare a list of sections
in the measure that could be open to interpretation by the council.
Measure S, which voters overwhelmingly approved in the Nov. 7
election, will put before a citywide vote any development that allows an
increase of more than 100 peak-hour car trips or dwelling units or 40,000
square feet over the general plan allowance.
Supporters of the so-called Greenlight initiative said that forming
such a committee would be appropriate.
"Actually, the committee's job is pretty easy," said Allan Beek, who
helped create the measure. "It's pretty clear what should be done."
Sections that could be interpreted by council members include a clause
that would involve general plan amendments from the previous 10 years to
calculate whether a project requires a citywide vote. Council members
could also decide whether to grant developers credit for reducing car
trips caused by their project.
While Greenlight critics like Councilman Gary Adams have said in the
past that ignoring the 10-year reach-back provision could expose the city
to lawsuits, city officials said that council members might not adopt any
guidelines at all.
"Greenlight encourages ... but does not require the City Council to
adopt guidelines," said Burnham, adding that six of the seven council
members would have to vote for any interpretations of the initiative.
City Manager Homer Bludau cautioned that no decision had been made on
how the process would work.
"The formation of an ad hoc committee isn't set in stone," he said.
While the city's leaders will have to figure out Greenlight's
implementation, officials for three projects likely to trigger a citywide
vote said they'd wait on any plans until they had a better idea of how
Greenlight would actually work.
Scott Allen, a spokesman for Conexant Systems, Inc., said the chip
maker might move elsewhere with its 566,000-square-foot expansion
project.
"Clearly, once Greenlight becomes law, it is going to be more
difficult for companies like Conexant to expand in Newport Beach," said
Allen, adding that company officials had begun to talk to council members
about their plans for putting the initiative in place. "I think we
