Newport considers new rules

June Casagrande

Responding to pressure by members of the Greenlight Committee, the

city might change the way it measures hotels’ effects on the

community. But city officials deny that the move is in response to

lawsuit threats by the Greenlight group.

On Feb. 10, the City Council will discuss whether to include

square footage as a consideration when weighing hotel projects.

Historically, the city has followed a formula of the Manual of the

Institute of Transportation Engineers that estimates hotel traffic

based on the number of rooms. The city’s Greenlight Initiative

measures new projects by using square footage. But when city

officials and Greenlight leaders were hammering out how to implement

the initiative, the city decided that hotel projects would be

measured by the number of rooms instead of square footage.

Next month’s council meeting could change all that.

“We had a gentlemen’s agreement with the Greenlight people that,

if this wasn’t working out, we would revisit it,” said Mayor Tod

Ridgeway, who participated in the talks three years ago on how to

measure hotels.

City officials were uncertain whether new guidelines would apply

to the Regent Newport Beach Resort planned at Marinapark on the

Balboa Peninsula. Council members agreed last year that they did not

believe the hotel triggered a Greenlight vote, but that it should be

decided by the people anyway. The matter is expected to appear on the

November ballot.

It’s also unclear whether next month’s council decision would

affect the Marinapark project.

“It’s kind of splitting hairs in my book,” Ridgeway said. “The

people will decide that project either way.”

City Atty. Bob Burnham said he believes that changes to guidelines

might affect whether the Marinapark project is characterized as a

Greenlight vote or as a council-mandated vote.

Greenlight leaders last week threatened to sue the city over this

matter, saying that it set a precedent for the city to bypass

Greenlight on future hotel projects.

John Buttolph, a spokesman for Greenlight, said he still believes

that the Marinapark project balloting should be acknowledged as a

Greenlight vote.

“I am encouraged by the city’s apparent willingness to bring their

guidelines into compliance with the letter of the law,” Buttolph

said. “The devil’s in the details, and we’ll just have to wait and

see what the city does.”

Burnham said that the he has been considering revisiting the hotel

measures since November, when Buttolph wrote to the city with

concerns about the Marinapark project.

“My response to your ‘requests’ is not based on, or a reaction to,

your threat of litigation,” Burnham wrote to an attorney representing

Greenlight. “That said, this office does believe, based on analysis

in your letter, that the public might benefit from a modification to

the council policies.”

* 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.