Dick Nichols: Fighting giveaways for development
June Casagrande
For Newport Beach City Council candidate Dick Nichols, some of the
biggest threats to resident’s quality of life are found in fine
print.
For example, he said, you have to look closely at the effects of
big development to see all the ways these projects hurt the little
guy. Large projects take up a huge proportion of the traffic allowed
under to the city’s Traffic Phasing Ordinance. This, in turn, hurts
smaller property owners whose pre-approved rights to build on their
own property is put in jeopardy because the bigger developments
created more than their share of traffic impacts.
“The person hurt the most by this is the medium-sized business
owner,” said Nichols, a 30-year Newport Beach resident endorsed by
the controlled-growth Greenlight camp for the District 6 council seat
to be vacated by Dennis O’Neil.
And there’s another devil in the details, Nichols said: When you
give away rights to build more square footage on a property than
originally approved, you are, in a sense, giving away money.
“Rights to build can be measured in dollars, sometimes about $100
a square foot, so when you give away a right to build 2 million extra
square feet, that’s a $200 million giveaway, and that’s not right,”
he said.
Nichols, a mathematician, arrived at the 2 million square-foot
figure by adding up recent proposals for some large developments,
including an expanded Newport Dunes Resort Hotel, Newport Center and
the Koll Project. His figures include only the difference between
originally approved square footage and the developers’ requests for
expanded developments.
“Zoning is definitely my big issue,” Nichols said. “These are
giveaways.”
As such, he finds it ironic that some have tried to label the
Greenlight movement as somehow opposed to property rights. On the
contrary, he said, the movement tries to protect smaller property
owners’ rights when owners of larger properties take more than their
rights allow.
Nichols also said that controlling John Wayne Airport expansion is
critical. A pressing threat he sees is that federal authorities could
change their current flight requirements that make pilots take off at
a steep angle. If those rules were relaxed, it could mean that huge
portions of Newport Beach will have flight noise greater than 65
decibels. And, under state rules, any property subjected to these
noise levels have the right to sue, Nichols explained.
“Newport Beach could be devastated,” he said. “We need airport
sound protections.”
Also high on Nichols’ priority list is creating more playing
fields for kids. He said the city might consider negotiating with
some schools, such as Corona del Mar High School, to develop and
share currently unused land adjacent to their campuses.
*
DICK NICHOLS
AGE: 63 on Friday
OCCUPATION: Engineer
FAMILY: Married to Sandy; three grown children; one grandson.
EDUCATION: Bachelor’s, master’s and doctorate degrees all from
Northwestern University.
COMMUNITY SERVICE: Longtime Republican party activist on state and
local levels including as president of the Republican Assembly for
Corona del Mar; former director, Air Pollution Control Assn. of
Southern California; member, National Fire Protection Agency; member
American Institute of Chemical Engineers.
IMPORTANT INFLUENCE: “My dad. He taught me how to work with my
hands.”
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