Crossing enemy lines in traffic war

Noaki Schwartz

NEWPORT BEACH -- Once the Traffic Phasing Ordinance’s biggest enemy, the

Chamber of Commerce is now the biggest supporter of a proposed ballot

measure bearing the same name.

The reason for the dramatic shift is simple: the Greenlight initiative.

Chamber officials see the Traffic Phasing Ordinance measure as less of a

roadblock for business than the opposing Greenlight measure, which

threatens to bring growth to a complete halt, said chamber president

Richard Luehrs.

“From our perspective, it’s the lesser of two evils,” Luehrs said. “We’re

between a rock and a hard place.”

“Is the chamber opposed to Greenlight? Absolutely,” said former mayor

Clarence Turner, who helped draft the traffic ordinance. “Are they

opposed to the TPO? Probably. Was I opposed to the TPO in the past? No, I

wasn’t. Even though I’m a developer, I had a responsibility for the

overall good of the city.”

When the Traffic Phasing Ordinance was first proposed more than two

decades ago by a group of community activists, the Chamber of Commerce,

Pacific Mutual Life Insurance Co. and the Irvine Co. staunchly opposed

the effort.

The ordinance, which was eventually adopted, required developers to pay

for road improvements to prevent traffic congestion.

Over the years, the chamber continued to oppose the ordinance and, as

late as last April, supported what Greenlight members have called the

“gutting” of the law.

In 1999, the City Council amended the ordinance to ensure the law would

stand up to legal challenges following recent court decisions. The

amendments balanced out the way costs were assigned to developers and

lowered the number of City Council votes needed to override the changes.

Greenlight member Allan Beek said the chamber does not have residents’

interests at heart and that this dramatic shift in support shows “how

much those people really like the TPO.”

In response to the weakening of the ordinance, some of the drafters of

the original law came together and created the Greenlight initiative. The

measure proposes to give voters the final say on certain major

developments even if they’ve been approved by the Planning Commission and

City Council.

But the Chamber of Commerce and many city officials fear that the

measure, if passed, will put a moratorium on developments.

Earlier this year, the Irvine Co. and Pacific Life pulled their plans for

Newport Center, citing the uncertainties created by the Greenlight

initiative.

Going through the planning process is expensive and time-consuming, and

should the Greenlight measure pass, the chamber fears that developers

will simply take their proposals elsewhere. The problem with this,

officials say, is that it could cut into Newport’s funding for city

services.

The Traffic Phasing Ordinance measure -- which could appear alongside the

Greenlight initiative on the November ballot -- was created to both

strengthen the existing law by making it part of the city charter, and to

dismantle Greenlight.

Former mayors Turner and Tom Edwards drafted the initiative and say the

measure can’t be changed or “gutted” without a vote of the people.

“A bunch of people throughout the city called meetings and said ‘let’s

talk about this,’ ” Turner said.

While Turner and Luehrs say the chamber is not sponsoring the measure,

the business community is certainly a strong supporter.

From the chamber’s perspective, while Greenlight threatens to halt

development depending on voters, the Traffic Phasing Ordinance simply

tacks on extra expenses to offset a development’s effect on traffic.

Beek, however, insists that the entire creation of the Traffic Phasing

Ordinance measure is a sham.

“It’s just a cover-up and excuse to kill Greenlight,” Beek said.