A CLOSER LOOK -- Can Measure S make up for lost chances?

Alex Coolman

From a distance, the dense row of houses that lines the cliff at the

Castaways development in Newport Beach looks a little bit like a layer of

frosting on a thick piece of cake.

In 1993, the proposal to build the homes was the source of an argument

that split the city. A controversial initiative, Measure A, proposed to

buy the land to hold it as open space.

Developers and environmentalists squared off as the election drew

near, with each side charging that it had the city’s best interests in

mind.

But voters were unwilling to foot the $68 million the plan would have

cost. Measure A failed, the homes were built, and environmentalists were

left to lick their wounds.

Today, the development debate still rages -- only a new pair of

initiatives, Measure S and Measure T, are the focus of the argument.

Change in alliances

That growth should still be a touchy subject is no surprise in a city

that prides itself both on its environmental and its economic strengths.

What’s remarkable about the ongoing debate, though, is the way the

political alliances have changed over time.

Clarence Turner was the mayor and Jean Watt was a councilwoman when

Measure A was a hot issue, and they were both vocal supporters of the

initiative. Today, the two are split, with Watt backing Measure S and

Turner heading the drive to pass the competing measure.

Measure S would require a citywide vote on projects creating more than

100 peak-hour car trips, more than 100 homes, or more than 40,000 square

feet of floor area in excess of general plan specifications.

Measure T would take parts of the city’s traffic phasing ordinance and

make them part of the city charter, and it would also cancel Measure S.

Turner said his disagreement with Watt comes down to a split over the

role of representative government.

“I was in favor [of Measure A], and, yes, I did endorse it, and, yes,

I do wish it had gone through,” he said. “And I am [still] in favor of

that. If the people will buy stuff and keep it open space, I am for it.”

Turner is quick to say he isn’t in love with the way the Castaways

turned out.

“The clustered look that it has now,” grates on him, he said, and he

added that he bears responsibility for the way it looks.

But the Measure S approach, he argues, is too extreme in its attack on

the judgment of elected officials.

A taxing issue

In 1993, Watt felt she could see the frosting coming on the cake, and

she said she thought Measure A stood a good chance of being passed.

“Then the anti-tax people came in and hit very hard” on the

$120-per-year-per-household cost that the initiative would have required.

“They eroded any chance we had.”

The strategies that were used in that campaign -- emphasizing the cost

to the ordinary pocketbook -- worry Watt, because she said the same

techniques are being inaccurately applied in the anti-Measure S drive.

“The swing votes, they’re going to be swayed mostly by something that

hits them either in their own personal pocketbook or something that

affects them in a very personal way,” she said.

Watt contends that some of the arguments that Measure S foes make --

that the initiative could limit a homeowner’s ability to remodel, for

example -- are distortions of the measure intended to drum up financial

anxiety.

But Measure T proponent Tom Edwards, who also favored Measure A,

thinks the economic argument is crucial.

When it comes down to it, he said, the fate of Measure A says

something significant about Newport residents’ priorities.

“When people are given a chance, they seem to say that they want these

things [such as open space], but they’re not prepared to pay for it,” he

said.

A bottom line

Newport Harbor Area Chamber of Commerce President Richard Luehrs, who

opposed Measure A and opposes Measure S, argued that this economic bottom

line is something that needs to be acknowledged.

Say what you like about the aesthetics of the Castaways, he said, it

seems to be popular with the people who live there.

“If it were a bad product, I think you’d see a whole bunch of ‘for

sale’ signs, or you’d see discounting to buy those homes,” he said.

Watt doesn’t dispute the idea that the homes are popular, but she

thinks the cake is hardly something that all Newport residents can enjoy.

“Even now,” she said, “developers are able to get things done that are

ultimately at the expense of the taxpayers.”