Voters to get chance at Koll project

Mathis Winkler

NEWPORT BEACH -- The fate of a 250,000-square-foot expansion project

at Koll Center is now in voters’ hands. After a majority of City Council

members finally approved the proposed 10-story office tower at Tuesday’s

meeting, the city’s residents will decide in a special election on Nov.

20 whether the project will be built.

That’s because it triggers a Greenlight election. The slow-growth

initiative, which voters overwhelmingly approved in November, requires

citywide elections for certain general plan amendments that add more than

40,000 square feet or 100 peak-hour car trips or dwelling units above

what’s allowed by the general plan.

Council members said their approval of the Koll project followed the

initiative’s spirit. ‘We’ve made our decision, and the public is going to

uphold it or overturn and that’s fine,’ said Mayor Gary Adams. ‘I’ve

already done my job, and now it’s up to [Koll officials] to run the

campaign.’

With Greenlight supporters already on record as opposed to the

expansion, the new law’s first test is bound to create controversy.

Phil Arst, who serves as spokesman for a group of residents involved

in securing the initiative’s victory, told council members at the July 10

council meeting that the project will cause traffic problems that can’t

be fixed with the extra money Koll officials will pay.

In addition to about $1.16 million in mandatory traffic and

transportation fees, the developers have agreed to pay $2 million in

traffic funds, as well as $60,000 to help build a new fire station and

$112,500 for a planning study for the airport area. The project, which

also includes two parking structures, would be at Koll Center’s southern

tip, near the intersection of Jamboree Road and MacArthur Boulevard.

The fact that such a planning study won’t be completed before voters

decide on the expansion is another reason for some to oppose the project.

Councilmen John Heffernan and Gary Proctor, who voted against the

expansion, said city officials should first come up with a comprehensive

plan for the area and figure out what, if any, development should be

allowed before approving specific projects.

Joining his two colleagues in voting against the project, Councilman

Steve Bromberg reversed his earlier position.

‘I kept asking myself: Do I have enough information to say let the

people vote?’ said Bromberg, adding that he had struggled with the issue

since the last meeting. ‘I don’t think we do.’

* Mathis Winkler covers Newport Beach. He can be reached at (949)

574-4232 or by e-mail at mathis.winkler@latimes.com.