ON THE AGENDA Here are some items...

ON THE AGENDA

Here are some items to be considered by the Newport Beach City

Council tonight.

TIDELANDS MANAGEMENT

In an important step toward realizing some of the Sphere Issues

Committee’s goals, the council tonight will consider a move that

could put more tidelands into city control.

WHAT TO EXPECT

Right now, the county administers a number of tidelands on the

city’s border and in the Back Bay. Tonight’s item could boost a move

for the city to take over that role in some areas, most notably in

the Newport Dunes.

CELLULAR ANTENNA

The first cable company to apply to rent space on city land to

place a cellular antenna under a new city ordinance is also the first

to seek an exception to the height limit. Cingular Wireless wants to

install a 50-foot, 24-inch-diameter pole in the municipal parking lot

at the southeast corner of Superior Avenue and Coast Highway. The

city’s ordinance, passed in fall 2002, puts a 35-foot height limit on

cellular antennas to be placed on city property.

WHAT TO EXPECT

Staff members have recommended that the council allow Cingular to

be an exception to the rule. If council members approve the request,

it would mean better cellular coverage for Cingular customers in the

area. People who own property within 300 feet of the site have been

sent notices. If any of them take issue with the request, the matter

could get more controversial.

SHORT-TERM HOME RENTALS

Property owners in low-density neighborhoods who hope to rent out

their homes on a weekly or monthly basis might not be able to do so

in the future. The council tonight will consider whether to stop

issuing permits for renting homes in neighborhoods zoned for the

lowest-intensity use, commonly called R-1 zoning. The council vote

would not affect people who currently hold permits to rent out homes

in this area. It would only prohibit new permits from being issued.

WHAT TO EXPECT

It’s hard to gauge how much public interest the item will

generate. Many of the people who would want to rent out homes in

these R-1 areas already do.

NUISANCE PARKING

People who like to leave a car or two parked on the grass in their

front yard might not have that option soon. The council tonight will

consider whether to add to city nuisance ordinances the practice of

people parking or storing cars anywhere on their property except a

garage, carport or driveway.

WHAT TO EXPECT

City Atty. Bob Burnham has left the matter in the council’s hands,

opting not to recommend which way the council should vote on the

matter. So it’s difficult to predict how council members will feel

about the proposed ordinance change.