Signatures submitted for traffic relief measure
Noaki Schwartz
NEWPORT BEACH -- After only six weeks, proponents of the Traffic Phasing
Ordinance initiative have turned in more than 10,000 signatures to the
city clerk in an effort to put their measure on the November ballot.
“Greenlight got 10,250 and it took them over six months,” said former
mayor Tom Edwards, who coauthored the countermeasure. “I’m feeling as
positive as I can feel. That’s a pretty good sign, I think -- people like
our message and they want a choice.”
Edwards and another former mayor, Clarence Turner, drafted the measure,
which proposes to make Newport’s traffic law part of the city charter and
nullify the Greenlight initiative. If the measure gets the 6,750 valid
signatures it needs, it will appear alongside the Greenlight initiative
on the November general election ballot.
The Traffic Phasing Ordinance, touted by proponents as the toughest in
the county, requires developers to pay for road improvements to prevent
traffic congestion. Adding it to the city charter would make it harder to
change the ordinance.
The ordinance, implemented more than 20 years ago, was “gutted” last
year, Greenlight proponents say. In 1999, the Newport Beach City Council
amended the ordinance to ensure it would stand up to legal challenges.
The amendments changed the way costs of improvements were assigned to
developers and lowered the number of council votes needed to override the
changes.
The new ordinance was the impetus behind the Greenlight measure, which
proposes to give voters the final say on certain major developments, even
after the Planning Commission and City Council have approved the
development.
However, many city officials, including Turner and Edwards, say the
Greenlight measure will halt development in the city. While it’s
well-intentioned, they say, the measure is poorly designed.
Their fear is that the complications imposed by Greenlight would scare
away developers to neighboring communities. While Newport would be left
with the resulting cross-traffic, the city would not get any of the
financial benefits from the developments in order to make street
improvements to ease congestion.
The next step, said Edwards, is to wait for the signatures to be
validated.
“Depending on the validation, hopefully the clerk will put it on the
November ballot,” Edwards said.
It may not be as easy as that. Greenlight proponents are already saying
they plan to contest the petition, claiming the signatures were
fraudulently solicited. They say signature-gatherers gave voters
incorrect information -- an accusation both Turner and Edwards say
they’ve investigated and have dismissed.
“We’re going to try to take it to court,” said Greenlight proponent Allan
Beek.
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