Greenlight is a go

Mathis Winkler

NEWPORT BEACH -- The city entered a new era Tuesday as City Council

members officially declared Greenlight’s victory.

The slow-growth initiative -- approved by 63.4% of the city’s voters

in the Nov. 7 election -- will require a citywide vote on any development

that causes an increase of more than 100 peak-hour car trips or dwelling

units, or 40,000 square feet more than the general plan allowance.

Before the meeting, most council members said that instead of setting

up a committee to come up with guidelines to put the initiative in place,

they would prefer to hold a public hearing.

“I want to do what the Greenlight people want to do,” said Councilman

Gary Adams, who was selected Tuesday night by council members as the

city’s new mayor.

He added that giving everyone a chance to comment on the initiative’s

implementation would prevent allegations of bias that a committee might

face.

“Then nobody can really say that the decks have been stacked,” Adams

said.

Councilman Tod Ridgeway, who was chosen as Newport Beach’s vice mayor

Tuesday, said an overwhelming majority of the city’s voters had approved

the measure, adding that the formation of a committee was unnecessary.

Some even said the council should not get involved in shaping

Greenlight at all.

“These people all voted on [Greenlight] as it was presented to them”

on the ballot, Councilman Dennis O’Neil said. “They didn’t vote on [it]

as the City Council is going to interpret it. It’s an irony to me that

once people initiate laws, they throw it back to the council. What do we

really vote on here?”

But Greenlight supporters said their initiative had included a section

that gave the City Council an opportunity to come up with administrative

guidelines.

“They’ve got to administer it,” said Phil Arst, Greenlight’s campaign

spokesman. He added that he hoped issues such as granting developers

credit for reducing car trips or a building’s floor area as part of their

project could be resolved in a speedy manner.

Addressing a clause that includes the past 10 years of general plan

amendments into calculations that determine if a project would require a

citywide election, Arst said Greenlight supporters and city officials

were trying to reduce the number of votes.

“Once we read what [recommendation] staff has, we’ll work with them to

minimize the number of votes,” he said.

Within a week, Greenlight will become part of the city charter, after

paperwork has been filed with California’s secretary of state, City Clerk

LaVonne Harkless said.

As the presiding officer during the council’s reorganization, Harkless

also swore into office Councilmen Steve Bromberg, John Heffernan and Gary

Proctor.

“Let’s park the egos and personal agendas at the door,” Bromberg said.

“Let’s work together, and we will be fine.”

Before making room behind the dais, outgoing council members Jan

Debay, Tom Thomson and John Noyes thanked residents for their support.

“Business is great,” Noyes said. “People are terrific, and life is

wonderful.”