City to analyze appeals protocol

Deirdre Newman

Does it cost residents too much to challenge city leaders when they

approve construction of a big home down the street? Do too many

appeals work through City Hall unnecessarily?

These are questions, likely among many, that the council will

wrestle with tonight.

In reviewing the city’s programs and services in June, the council

decided it wanted to take a closer look at the appeals process.

Council members will consider reducing the cost of appeals and having

the city partially subsidize the fee.

The council will also explore whether it should raise the bar for

appeals by requiring more than one council member to appeal a

decision by a lower body, like the Planning Commission. On Tuesday,

the Newport Beach City Council raised its threshold for reviewing

such decisions by changing the criteria from one council member to a

simple majority that would have to support taking up the matter.

Myran Drive resident Pam Frankel, who lost two efforts to keep her

quaint street in Costa Mesa a one-story neighborhood, said it’s

already difficult enough to get one council member to intervene on

residents’ behalf. Councilman Chris Steel supported both of her

efforts by making the appeals himself.

“It would be fine if we had a different council, but if the City

Council doesn’t care about older neighborhoods or privacy or

character or old trees, then what good does it do?” Frankel asked.

“How are you going to get two of them if four out of five of them

don’t care?”

In the 2002-03 fiscal year, 33% of the council hearings were

appeals. In the 2003-04 fiscal year, 14% were appeals.

It costs $810 to appeal a project to the council or to ask the

council to reconsider something it already approved, unless you are a

City Council member. If a council member appeals on behalf of the

dissatisfied party, the fee is waived. In the last two fiscal years,

the city lost about $7,400 because of fees being waived.

Frankel said the cost of appeals should be reasonably priced for

the average homeowner.

At the same time, city government should not be a burden on

developers and property owners whose projects comply with the city’s

rules, Councilman Allan Mansoor said.

“I think appeals are a crucial part of how our local government

operates,” Mansoor said. “I just feel that, at times, it gets abused

when there’s complete compliance with all the rules that we’ve set

up.”

Mansoor also said he wasn’t sure it’s necessary to change the

threshold from one City Council member to a simple majority as

Newport Beach did.

“Maybe I would consider looking at two council members requesting

an appeal,” Mansoor said. “That might be something that’s worth

looking at. I’ll see what issues come up.”

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

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