NEWPORT BEACH CITY COUNCIL WRAP-UP

Here are some of the decisions coming out of the Newport Beach City

Council meeting on Tuesday.

WHAT HAPPENED:

A development of 22 live-work lofts in Cannery Village won the City

Council’s blessing. The development combines ground-floor commercial

space with upstairs residential space in one unit. The project is set to

be built along both sides of 30th Street, between Villa Way and LaFayette

Avenue. The 22 lofts would be free-standing units of about 3,000 square

feet. Four will sit on the Rhine Channel waterfront.

WHAT IT MEANS:

The Cannery Lofts are now just one step away from final approval. The

Coastal Commission will get the last say on the project. A date for that

hearing has not yet been set.

WHAT THEY SAID:

“We think this project will give a boost to the area,” said Richard

Luehrs, president of the Newport Beach Chamber of Commerce, who spoke in

support of Cannery Lofts project.

Vote: 7/0

WHAT HAPPENED:

Mayor Tod Ridgeway appointed Robert Shelton as chairman of and Phil

Lugar vice chair of the newly created General Plan Advisory Committee.

WHAT IT MEANS:

The decision was postponed from the Feb. 26 City Council meeting

mainly because, after the laborious and contentious process of appointing

all 34 members of the committee, everyone wanted to go home. Though it’s

the mayor’s privilege to appoint the chairman and vice chairman, Ridgeway

gave his colleagues a chance to speak up on the subject. No one protested

Ridgeway’s selection. Shelton and Lugar will lead the group’s monthly

meetings to help guide city officials as they update the general plan.

WHAT THEY SAID:

Ridgeway said of Shelton and Lugar, “Obviously, their goal is to bring

together all the visions that are on the table and to be consensus

builders.”

WHAT HAPPENED:

Council members approved a $115,240 contract with Applied Development

Economics to study the city’s current and future economics.

WHAT IT MEANS:

The goal of the study is to provide information to guide the general

plan update process but, as resident Tom Hyans pointed out, the study is

behind schedule. It’s likely the study won’t be complete until after the

General Plan Advisory Committee has disbanded. Councilman Gary Adams

suggested asking the firm to provide period updates of their findings, in

hopes that the information will help committee members make the best

possible decisions.

WHAT THEY SAID:

“It was my understanding that the economic development data was

supposed to be available early on,” Hyans said. “If you look at the

schedule, you see that ain’t gonna happen.”

Vote: 7/0

WHAT HAPPENED:

A contract for $80,500 with Hunt Design Associates was approved for

the firm to survey the city’s signs. The firm willlook at ways to

redesign signs to create a cohesive look citywide and for specific

communities, ways to reduce sign clutter and areas where more and better

signs would help motorists, pedestrians and businesses.

Vote: 7/0

SOUNDING OFF

“I believe the fight is not over.” -- Russell Niewiarowski, one of a

half dozen residents who urged the council to continue in the courts the

fight for an El Toro airport..

NEXT MEETING

When: March 26, 7 p.m.

Where: City Council Chambers at City Hall, 3300 Newport Blvd.