PHILIP L. ARST -- Community Commentary

Government by special interests? Newport deserves better!

Many more high-rise office buildings! Multiple tourist and convention

hotels ringing our bayfront! Is our future one of being stuck in massive

traffic congestion with impeded access to Hoag Hospital and other

important places?

Until Measure S, also known as the Greenlight initiative, was

initiated, a dozen of these types of major developments were being

dutifully processed for routine approval by the city. Approval of these

major developments and others to come would forever change Newport Beach

from a high quality residential beach/bay community to a congested

high-rise metropolitan city.

Greenlight is a grass-roots residents’ campaign to save the character

of our city. It came about because out special interest lobbied city

government has not been adequately addressing the impacts of increased

traffic and congestion on us residents.

Greenlight will limit developer-lobbyist influence on the city council

by giving residents an equal voice. It permits the government to function

as always except that voters may overrule the City Council on major

general plan amendments.

Greenlight will strengthen our city government by making it more

responsive to the people. By making them a part of its decisions, local

government can restore the lagging public trust.

Greenlight is well thought out. Its drafters are the same group of

public-spirited citizens who wrote the original traffic phasing

ordinance. That law served the city well for twenty years until it was

recently weakened by the City Council under lobbying pressure by the

development industry. As the ordinance no longer adequately served our

needs, the original writers then formulated Greenlight as the best

solution to reducing the growth of traffic congestion in the city.

The same developers that were instrumental in degrading the traffic

phasing ordinance protections have now provided the initial funding for

ballot Measure T, which is designed to invalidate Greenlight. Are you

surprised that all of the provisions of developers’ Measure T can be

overridden by the City Council? That is the scenario the developers like

because they want to remain with the weakened traffic phasing ordinance!

A yes vote on Greenlight is needed to stave off the dozen proposed

projects and provide time for thoughtful planning of the city. If

Greenlight is defeated, we will be immediately subject to their being

dumped on us plus a continuing stream of high-rise developments in the

future.

Measure S Greenlight is a grass-roots residents’ attempt to preserve

Newport Beach as a high-quality residential beach/bay community. We must

act now or lose our city!

PHILIP L. ARST is a Corona del Mar resident and a Greenlight spokesman