Planning Commission to debate basic changes

Stacy Brown

NEWPORT BEACH -- The Planning Commission is expected tonight to adopt a

resolution that revises wording and typographical errors found in the

municipal zoning code.

Commissioner Michael Kranzley said the proposed revisions are in response

to specific planning-related issues that have arisen during the past

year.

“Over time, we find that there are errors or mistakes and other issues,”

Kranzley said. “It’s more a maintenance [thing] than anything else.”

Some of the revisions represent changes in regulations and procedures.

Among the items scheduled to be discussed is a proposal to establish a

minimum 10-foot rear yard setback for properties abutting the waterfront.

According to planners, the code has always allowed alternate front yard

setbacks to be established by districting maps, but it does not contain a

similar provision for rear yard setbacks along the waterfront, even

though such setbacks appear on those maps.

For years, planners said, this discrepancy was resolved by interpreting

waterfront lots as having two front yards, one on the street and one on

the water.

However, this interpretation creates conflicts with a number of

definitions and regulations in the zoning code. The planned amendment is

expected to correct this problem.

“We aren’t expecting much, if any, public comment on these changes,”

Kranzley said. “I don’t know that there is too much substance to them

except to just make the appropriate changes.”

Other proposed changes include allowing residential garages to project 10

inches into side yards on 25-foot wide lots; revising parking

restrictions on vehicles in front yards; and adding a cross-reference to

the Alcoholic Beverage Outlets regulation schedule.

The commission meets at 7 p.m. in the City Council chambers at 3300

Newport Boulevard.