NEWPORT BEACH Campaign consultant admits creating...

NEWPORT BEACH

Campaign consultant admits creating phone message

A campaign consultant admitted creating a phony campaign telephone

message designed to give Councilman Gary Adams an edge in the council

race. Consultant Dave Ellis said he never authorized actually using

the message.

Adams and Ellis say that Adams had no knowledge of the message,

which said that Ron Winship was the Greenlight candidate in District

4, when in fact Rick Taylor was Greenlight’s pick in that race.

The city is moving ahead with plans to help a builder in creating

150 units of senior affordable housing at Lower Bayview Landing. At

the same time, state officials are trying to nudge the city closer to

the goal of creating 254 affordable and market-rate housing units

citywide.

A community center designed to serve as the heart of Newport Coast

life moved a step closer to becoming a reality last week when City

Council members hired a surveyor to do environmental tests on a site

at the northeast corner of Newport Coast Drive and San Joaquin Hills

road. The site overlaps the former Coyote Canyon Landfill, and

therefore could contain methane gas or other hazards.

* JUNE CASAGRANDE covers Newport Beach and John Wayne Airport.

She may be reached at (949) 574-4232 or by e-mail at

june.casagrande@latimes.com.

ENVIRONMENT

Costa Mesa Sanitary

adopts grease control

Anticipating a shifting tide toward stricter regional regulation

of sewage spills, the Costa Mesa Sanitary District unanimously

approved a new law to halt the flow of grease into its lines.

The district on Monday put in place a grease-control ordinance

that would allow the district to levy fines against restaurants that

fail to regularly clean their lines or dump fats, grease and oils

down the sink.

Blockages in lines often cause raw sewage to back up and burble up

through manhole covers. Any eatery owner who causes the blockages in

lines that often cause raw sewage to back up and burble up through

manhole covers could face a $1,000 fine or six-month jail term.

The Orange County Sanitation District is in the midst of a

$300,000 survey expected to lead to a boilerplate grease-control

ordinance for its member agencies, which include the local sanitary

district.

Costa Mesa’s ordinance would also require all new restaurants and

eateries to install “grease interceptors.”

* PAUL CLINTON covers the environment, business and politics. He

may be reached at (949) 764-4330 or by e-mail at

paul.clinton@latimes.com.

COSTA MESA

Lone owl halts

plans at Fairview Park

He doesn’t hold a seat on the City Council dais and didn’t walk

precincts to get elected, but a lone burrowing owl was able to prompt

consensus on projects at Fairview Park that had been debated for

years.

City leaders finally made a decisive step in Fairview Park

planning last week when they updated the 1997 master plan and erased

a dog park, pond and botanical gardens.

The council’s actions came in response to a letter from the

Department of Fish and Game, which outlined concerns about the three

projects and their proximity to a burrowing owl that uses the park as

its winter home.

The letter stated city officials would need to conduct biological

surveys and study ways to move the owl or make sure the proposed dog

park, botanical garden and pond did not interfere with it.

Rather than spend more taxpayer money on the extensive studies,

the council scratched the projects from the master plan.

* LOLITA HARPER covers Costa Mesa. She may be reached at (949)

574-4275 or by e-mail at lolita.harper@latimes.com.

EDUCATION

UCI Student Center

gets OK for expansion

More room for meeting, eating and hanging out at UC Irvine’s

Student Center has been approved by the UC Regents. The proposal

calls for increasing meeting space by three times as much as exists

now.

The Student Center, which opened in 1981, has already undergone

two expansions. The one in the works will add 85,000 square feet of

usable space to the center and the separate Cross Cultural Center.

The expansion also calls for enlarging the Student Center’s food

area by 75% and the study and lounge space by 50%. The Cross Cultural

center, across from the student center, will also double in size.

* DEIRDRE NEWMAN covers education. She may be reached at (949)

574-4221 or by e-mail at deirdre.newman@latimes.com.