Council sets meeting to define parts of Greenlight

Mathis Winkler

NEWPORT BEACH -- If Allan Beek had his way, the implementation of the

Greenlight Initiative would be taken care of by now.

“I think it can be done by tomorrow,” Beek, who wrote the slow-growth

initiative, said Wednesday. “I’m available to help, but it’s up to [city]

staff to decide who they want to handle it.”

On Tuesday, the City Council voted unanimously to hold a Jan. 9 study

session on how to put Greenlight into place. After holding public

hearings, council members are expected to vote on the guidelines at the

Jan. 23 meeting.

The slow-growth measure will require a citywide vote on any general

plan amendments for a project that adds more than 100 peak-hour car trips

or dwelling units, or 40,000 square feet more than the plan’s allowance.

Choosing a date for Greenlight to take effect is widely considered to

be the most important decision council members will have to make in terms

of implementation guidelines for the initiative. Another option would be

to count general plan amendments during the previous 10 years, which

would force many more project to go before a citywide vote.

Beek added that he would set the initiative’s starting date as Nov. 7,

the date when the city’s voters overwhelmingly approved the measure.

He also would propose to credit developers for reducing an existing

building’s floor area as part of their project, he said.

While commenting that council members should “give a lot of weight” to

the views of Greenlight supporters, such as Beek, Mayor Gary Adams said

he did not want to make a decision before seeing the recommendations of

city officials.

“Obviously I think that [Greenlight supporters’] views are important,”

Adams said, adding that legally the group had no more decision-making

power than any other resident in the city.

Councilman John Heffernan said he could support Beek’s suggestion to

set Nov. 7 as the initiative’s starting date.

Beek “understands what the folks had in mind,” Heffernan said. “He’s

genuinely interested in having Greenlight implemented in a fair way.”

To set guidelines for the implementation, at least six of the seven

council members must approve them, according to the initiative’s

provisions.

Two other areas for possible City Council interpretation are

definitions of the terms “floor area” and “peak-hour trips.”

As far as a project’s floor area is concerned, council members will

probably decide whether to use a project’s net or gross floor area to

determine if it must go before a citywide vote.

While “gross floor area” would encompass the entire building, “net

floor area” would leave out such areas as elevator shafts, staircases and

walls, Beek said.

City Atty. Bob Burnham agreed with Beek that the issue of a definition

of peak hour trips was not problematic, but he said that a specific

interpretation would give people more clear-cut guidelines.

“We think that it would be appropriate to define it now so people will

know whether a particular amendment requires voter approval,” Burnham

said Wednesday.

He added that he would probably circulate a preliminary draft of the

guidelines among city officials and modify them based on responses he

receives before presenting a report to the council and the public Jan. 9.