INSIDE CITY HALL Here are some decisions...

INSIDE

CITY HALL

Here are some decisions from Tuesday night’s meeting of the

Newport Beach City Council.

VOTING SYSTEM DEMONSTRATION

People watching the City Council meeting got a primer on the new

voting machines that will be used throughout Orange County beginning

in March. City Clerk LaVonne Harkless guided council members and

viewers through the process of casting a ballot on the new electronic

voting machines.

Newport Beach is one of a handful of cities in the county where

residents can test drive the new machines before voting day.

For information on trying out the new machines, call the clerk’s

office at (949) 644-3005.

SPEAKING TIMES

Mayor Tod Ridgeway suggested Tuesday that public comments on

consent calendar items be shortened from five to three minutes.

He said that because these items are intended to be routine

anyway, shorter speaking times would be appropriate. Several members

of the public disagreed.

WHAT THEY SAID

“Some of these consent calendar items should be public hearings

and they’re not,” said Resident Dolores Otting, who opposes

shortening comment times.

WHAT IT MEANS

The matter will be placed on an agenda for a vote by the council.

HISTORICAL LANDMARK BUILDING HEIGHTS

The council considered a measure that would allow the Balboa

Theater to follow through on its plans to add an on-roof deck for

fundraising and other social events. But the item raised a few

concerns. The staff members’ proposal was to make exceptions to

55-foot height rules for the four structures in the city designated

as landmark buildings. Some who supported the idea for the Balboa

Theater said that it shouldn’t be extended to the other landmark

buildings. The council disagreed, supporting the item as written.

WHAT THEY SAID

“We support [the Balboa Theater],” Greenlight spokesman Phil Arst

said. “We’re just worried that this sets a precedent.”

SCHOLLE PROJECT

When considering whether the city of Newport Beach should take a

position on the Scholle project planned for Irvine, the council

answered with an emphatic yes. The proposed 486,500-square-foot

project, at 19000 Jamboree Road, borders Newport Beach.

City staff members suggested, and the council agreed, that the

project will have “significant and unavoidable traffic impacts.”

WHAT IT MEANS:

City staff members will send Irvine the city’s comments, which

were prepared by the city’s Environmental Quality Affairs Committee.

Staff members will likely add some comments of their own,

specifically on the project’s traffic study.

-- June Casagrande