Q&A; -- Breaking down the first Greenlight election

The first Greenlight election will arrives Nov. 20 -- barely more than

a week away. The Daily Pilot wants Newport Beach residents and voters to

know exactly what the outcome of the election means to the two sides

involved.

This week, via e-mail, those for and against an expansion of the Koll

Center off Jamboree Road and MacArthur Boulevard answered five questions

from the Daily Pilot staff and then rebutted their opposition’s answers.

Representing those in favor of the project is Koll Center developer Tim

Strader Sr. Speaking on behalf of those against the project is Greenlight

spokesman Phil Arst. Both are Newport Beach residents.

QUESTION 1

You have both argued that your side is the one with the most benefits

to voters. What single aspect of this issue do you think is the most

relevant to Newport Beach residents?

ANSWERS

ARST: We are the original Greenlight residents who wrote and

campaigned for Greenlight (Measure S) last year. Prevention of even more

traffic congestion is the single most important benefit of our “Vote No”

campaign. We are sick and tired of ever-increasing traffic congestion in

the city. The official city staff analysis of the Koll 10-story office

tower points out that several intersections, including MacArthur

Boulevard-Jamboree Road will become unsatisfactorily congested and will

require a $15-million to $20-million overpass or equivalent in the

future. As another project, Conexant, is located next to Koll and waiting

to apply for an additional 500,000 square feet in office towers, the need

for limiting traffic becomes even more important.

STRADER: The most important aspect of this project is that it meets

the guidelines, spirit and intent of Greenlight. For example, this

project is located out by the airport, miles from residential areas in

coastal Newport Beach. Additionally, it will provide $3 million for

traffic improvements, $60,000 toward a new fire station in the airport

area, $28,000 per year in property tax and new jobs.

REBUTTALS

ARST: The Koll project does not meet Greenlight goals. Greenlight was

voted into law by residents to provide a mechanism to maintain Newport

Beach as a high-quality residential beach-bay community. A traffic

congestion-creating office building is decidedly not Greenlight.

Disturbingly, Koll has usurped the name of Greenlight and pretends to

support it. However, its published list of endorsers include the leaders

of the developer-funded campaign that spent $720,000 to try to defeat

Greenlight last November. Do you really believe that those developers and

Koll are now supporting Greenlight?

STRADER: The official city staff report that the opposition points to

is the same one upon which the Newport Beach planning staff, Planning

Commission and City Council based their decision to approve the project

after numerous public hearings. Voters should not be misled. This project

will provide more than $3 million for traffic improvements (which can be

applied to the Jamboree-MacArthur intersection), $60,000 for a new fire

station, $28,000 in property tax and jobs.

QUESTION 2

You have disagreed in the past over the number of peak-hour car trips

this project will generate, the bottom-line financial benefits to the

city and the proximity of homes to the project. What are your official

figures and position on these three issues?

ANSWERS

ARST: The official traffic study for the Koll project projects 2,700

average daily auto trips with 390 a.m. and 360 p.m. peak-hour trips.

We believe the project will lose money for the city. The financial

study of the Koll project was flawed because it did not take inflationary

increases in the cost of services for the project into account. The city

also exempts Koll for some costs under its development agreement, again

at the expense of the taxpayers.

The Koll project is about a half-mile from the nearest residences, The

Terrace, and one mile from the BayPoint Apartments. Within 1.9 miles are

portions or all of Eastbluff, The Bluffs, Bonita Canyon and Belcourt,

subjecting them to increased traffic on Jamboree and MacArthur.

STRADER: The city’s own traffic study and environmental impact report

cites that, out of a total of 2,700 trips generated per day, only 10%

(270) will impact Newport Beach streets. This is equivalent to the

traffic generated by less than 30 homes. The tax revenue generated by

this project is $28,000 per year, plus $3 million for traffic

improvements and $60,000 toward construction of a new fire station. This

project is located five miles from West Newport, and 4 1/2 miles from

Corona del Mar and Coast Highway.

REBUTTALS

ARST: As the project is in Newport Beach, all of its traffic will dump

on MacArthur and Jamboree. Several intersections will have significant

and unavoidable traffic congestion impacts. As we are a small community,

with only two ways across town around the bay, the 2,700 daily car trips

generated by Koll will help congest Bristol-MacArthur-Jamboree, forcing

other traffic congestion onto Coast Highway and throughout the city.

Finally, the dollar amounts to be contributed by Koll are totally

inadequate to fully mitigate traffic impacts on our city streets.

STRADER: All 2,700 car trips will not be driving into Newport Beach.

According to the city’s own traffic plan, only 270 cars will drive on

Newport Beach surface streets. The majority of traffic will head out to

Irvine or onto freeways leading away from the city. The tax benefits of

this project were calculated by applying a standard uniform accounting

formula used by all municipalities. This project is more than four miles

from the most densely populated areas of Newport Beach -- Corona del Mar,

Newport Peninsula, Balboa Island and West Newport.

QUESTION 3

You’ve both been accused of using misrepresentative, skewed facts and

rhetoric in this election. How do you respond?

ANSWERS

ARST: The Koll Group has usurped the Greenlight name by calling

themselves the Greenlight Implementation Committee. This serves only to

confuse and deceive voters.

Koll literature states they “support Greenlight.” However, its

endorsers include the leaders of the Measure T campaign that spent

$720,000 to try to defeat Greenlight. To contend that these people now

support Greenlight is disingenuous and an affront to the intelligence of

Newport Beach voters.

Koll literature states their project is “in the Irvine Business

Complex . . . and miles from any residential area.” That is untrue, as

they are in Newport Beach and are only a half-mile from the nearest

residences. All this proves is that Koll is running a misleading and

deceptive campaign.

STRADER: We have always asked the voters of Newport Beach to look at

the facts when deciding on whether to support our project, and only the

facts have been presented. These are the same facts that were analyzed by

the city of Newport Beach planning staff, Planning Commission and City

Council when they held their hearings and approved the project.

REBUTTALS

ARST: The city planning staff criticized the project as contributing

to significant and unavoidable traffic impacts. They estimated $15

million to $20 million would be needed to fully mitigate long-term

traffic at MacArthur-Jamboree. Koll’s contribution to the city of $2

million (not the $3 million they claim) is only one-ninth of that.

Despite these drawbacks, the pro-development majority of the City Council

voted 4 to 3 in favor of the project. Three councilmen voted “no” as they

wisely preferred to wait for the completion of the updating of the city’s

general plan to ensure that Newport Beach is maintained as a high-quality

city.

STRADER: The Greenlight Initiative was overwhelmingly passed by the

voters last November and is now law. Measure G is asking the voters to

now implement the Greenlight process by reviewing all the facts and

making their own decision based on the merits of the project. The

Greenlight Implementation Committee is made up of individuals who did

just that. They are not anti-business, as some of the Greenlight

supporters appear to be, and they do not think that the intent of

Greenlight was to press their personal beliefs on others. They believe

that by implementing Greenlight, the voters should have the right to vote

on the project based on the facts.

QUESTION 4

This is the first election required by the city’s new Greenlight

Initiative. What will be the legacy of this election for Greenlight in

particular and growth in general?

ANSWERS

ARST: Our legacy of this first Greenlight vote will hopefully be that

the City Council and large developers will now understand that we

residents were serious when we said we wanted a residential, high-quality

city where we can raise a family in a more controlled traffic

environment. They will now understand that the projects must benefit the

city and residents, not just the pockets of the developers.

Hopefully, the legacy will also be the understanding that voters

soundly rejected the highly deceptive campaign conducted by Koll, and

Newport politics will be cleaned up in the future.

Based upon this, “beneficial” growth can continue, hopefully under the

auspices of an updated city general plan, rather than on an unplanned

piecemeal basis like the Koll project.

STRADER: This election will for the first time give voters the

opportunity to approve projects that are in the appropriate location and

provide benefits to the city. The legacy to the residents of Newport

Beach is that they will now have the opportunity to vote on each project

based on its own merits. That’s what Greenlight was intended to do and

why the Greenlight Implementation Committee supports this project.

REBUTTALS

ARST: The deceptive naming of the Greenlight Implementation Committee

and claims to support Greenlight were designed to deceive voters so they

wouldn’t be able to vote on the merits of the project as claimed. If this

deception wins the election, the legacy will be an even greater voter

mistrust of the electoral process. Additionally, out-of-town developers

will be encouraged to bring even larger projects into Newport when they

learn that money and deception can win for meritless projects.

STRADER: The Greenlight process allows voters to decide the fate of

projects on a case-by-case basis and based on their own merits. It is

wrong, and it was not the intent of the Greenlight process, to prejudge

any project before it has been presented to the voters. The opponents of

Measure G have anointed themselves the ultimate arbiter of any future

projects and that is not what Greenlight intended.

QUESTION 5

Do you feel this vote is a contest between business freedoms and the

freedom of residents to protect a community way of life?

ANSWERS

ARST: Greenlight was passed to protect both business freedoms and the

residents’ community way of life within the protective umbrella of the

city’s general plan. This election is not a contest between these two

groups. Koll has used up its individual entitlements under the current

general plan and is trying to obtain additional entitlements for a

250,000-square-foot, 10-story office tower.

Approving even more high-rise office buildings without the capability

to absorb their traffic is counter to the best interests of both

residents and business interests in Newport Beach. A “no” vote on Measure

G is needed to maintain the quality of life and property values for all

of Newport Beach.

STRADER: Newport Beach’s unique quality of life exists because of the

balance between residential and business uses as a result of more than 40

years of city planning.

REBUTTALS

ARST: A reasonable balance between business and residential uses has

worked in the city because their sizes were mandated under the city’s

general plan. Koll is now trying to circumvent the general plan to break

that balance and generate more traffic than our streets can handle. We

hope that the balance of these 40 years will not be tossed down the drain

and that a “no” vote will provide us time to do proper planning for the

city.

STRADER: It is because of projects such as this one that Newport Beach

is the great city it is by finding a balance between business and

residents. With the recent downturn in the economy, it is now more

important than ever to find beneficial projects to help boost Newport

Beach’s sagging economy and why the Newport Harbor Area Chamber of

Commerce says “yes” on Measure G.