Forum explores traffic ordinance

Alex Coolman

NEWPORT BEACH -- It doesn’t sound like the most exciting way to spend an

evening: gather together some engineers, developers and environmentalists

and discuss the minutia of traffic flow modeling.

But that’s the kind of soiree the Newport Harbor Area Chamber of Commerce

has been throwing lately in an effort to raise awareness about the

Traffic Phasing Ordinance.

The Traffic Phasing Ordinance is a city regulation intended to ensure

that developers whose projects generate traffic contribute to the cost of

solving traffic problems.

The chamber held its first meeting, which was well attended, on April 3.

An encore performance, which drew a crowd of only 15 traffic aficionados,

took place Wednesday evening at the Mariners Branch Library.

Many people are not aware that the ordinance exists, said Richard Luehrs,

the chamber’s director. The chamber hopes that giving the ordinance a

higher profile might persuade residents that other measures, such as the

Protect from Traffic and Density initiative -- also known as the

Greenlight initiative -- are not necessary to preserve the quality of

life in Newport Beach.

The initiative proposes to give voters the final say on certain

large-scale projects in the city.

Environmentalists such as Susan Caustin, who sat on the panel at

Wednesday night’s meeting, are somewhat less inclined to tiptoe around

the issue that lurks behind all the traffic talk.

Caustin said the traffic ordinance would be a good idea, if it works.

“I don’t think it works. ... I see more traffic despite the laws on the

books. It feels out of control,” Caustin said.

The people on the other side of the debate, not surprisingly, see things

differently.

Philip Bettencourt, a real estate development planner who also sat on the

panel, called the traffic law “the toughest ordinance we do business

with.”

“There isn’t any more exacting traffic ordinance in Orange County,” he

said.

As the sparse crowd trickled out from the meeting Wednesday night, only

one thing seemed to have been resolved with any certainty: traffic flow

makes for an extremely complicated night of chitchat.

“It’s a real problematic issue to try to get your arms around,” Luehrs

said.