LANDSCAPE:Newport city hall vote in store

Because of the 2000 ballot initiative known as Greenlight, Newport Beach voters may find themselves voting on a city hall site, whether it’s the thrice-rejected park site by the central library or not.

Council members have said no to building city hall on 12 acres reserved for Newport Center Park, but interested parties including retired architect Bill Ficker want to get the issue on the February ballot. The council recently voted to do a formal study of an Orange County Transportation Authority park-and-ride site just down the street from the Avocado Avenue library and park site.

Using either site would require a public vote under the terms of Measure S, also known as Greenlight, Newport Beach Assistant City manager Sharon Wood said last week. More entitlements for retail, hotel and residential developments exist in the Newport Center area, she said, but “there’s no more office entitlement.”

Greenlight requires a vote if a project crosses any of three thresholds for car trips, new homes and total square feet added. That last trigger, anything above 40,000 square feet, is the one a city hall likely would set off.

Citizens who want the park site on the ballot will have to craft their measure carefully if they want to cover the Greenlight requirements. Wood said a ballot initiative would have to specifically say voters agree to amend the city’s general plan to allow the roughly 72,000-square-foot city hall on the park site.

“If he [Ficker] does an initiative that only says ‘should city hall be on this site,’ in my opinion that doesn’t take care of the Greenlight vote — which could mean we could end up with two votes,” Wood said.

GOLF COURSE SUPPORTERS RALLY, HIRE LOBBYIST

How do you save a golf course in Newport Beach? Step 1: Hire political consultant Dave Ellis.

Ellis — who helped elect most of the Newport Beach City Council — will be working with Newport Beach Golf Course operators Steve and Donna Lane in their quest to persuade county officials to extend their lease on the back nine holes of the course. Reports surfaced last week that John Wayne Airport officials were considering other uses for the golf course parcel because the lease ends July 31.