Newport Beach pushes back planning event

June Casagrande

NEWPORT BEACH -- A “visioning festival” originally scheduled for this

week won’t take place until Jan. 12.

That’s when the city will kick off the process of updating its general

plan -- a mundane-sounding process that city officials hope residents

will see actually has a direct, profound effect on the city.

For example: Does the city want to promote tourism? Should its

employment centers grow? Is office development in the airport area

acceptable? What should the West Newport industrial area look like in 10

years? How do people feel about larger homes in established

neighborhoods? What will be the effect of a projected 40,000 students at

UC Irvine? How should the city use its tidelands?

And, perhaps the biggest hot button: What can be done about traffic?

These are the types of questions that officials want residents to

address beginning with the visioning festival.

“We want to get input on what the community thinks about this city and

its future,” Councilman Dennis O’Neil said.

The city’s general plan, a basic guide to development and growth,

hasn’t been updated since 1988. In July, officials announced that the

visioning process would begin in November, but a number of factors pushed

back the date.

“For one thing, we got bogged down interviewing consultants,” said

Councilman John Heffernan, who is on the General Plan Update Committee.

He noted that consultants will oversee such things as traffic studies,

economic studies and the visioning process itself. “And also because of

the holiday season, the Sept. 11 incidents and school holidays,” he

added.

The Nov. 20 special election on the proposed Koll Center expansion was

also a factor.

Heffernan said he expects traffic concerns to be paramount among

residents. Anticipated increases in traffic from inside and outside the

city will be considered as they affect major thoroughfares such as Balboa

and Newport boulevards. Officials and residents may even consider

creating an interchange at Jamboree Road and MacArthur Boulevard.

“This is a blueprint for the entire city. It’s pretty comprehensive,”

Heffernan said.

A location for the festival has not yet been selected. It will be an

indoor event with booths, displays and discussions on the city’s future,

said Assistant City Manager Sharon Wood. Food and diversions for children

will also be on hand.

The goal, she said, is to get residents as involved as possible in

steering the city’s course for the future.