Officials seek input on City Hall project

Alicia Robinson

If you didn’t notice the quarter-page ad in this week’s Daily Pilot

or the letter delivered to your home, perhaps the five giant banners

around Newport Beach caught your eye.

City officials are hoping a major public outreach will yield

results today at a workshop on whether to rebuild or renovate City

Hall. A meeting in early March only drew a dozen people, so the city

hung posters and banners, sent thousands of e-mails and mailed

letters to more than 29,000 residents.

Besides seeking more participation, officials are hoping for what

they see as more productive feedback.

At the first meeting, “the input was more commentary on whether

they thought anything should be done at all,” said Roger Torriero,

president of Griffin Structures, a Laguna Beach-based consultant

running the workshops.

“That was very good input, but frankly we’re not pollsters, and

that’s the type of information they need to present to their City

Council members,” Torriero said.

The City Council is considering whether to renovate or replace

City Hall, a multi-building complex that officials say is overcrowded

and poorly arranged. Its oldest building dates to the early 1940s and

none of the buildings meet guidelines to accommodate the disabled or

to withstand earthquakes.

The project also could include replacing a fire station adjacent

to the existing City Hall and adding a parking garage. Unofficial

estimates place the project cost as high as $40 million, but Torriero

said no preliminary costs will be available until public meetings set

for later this month.

While some in the community argue the city shouldn’t be spending

the money at all, others think something needs to be done to improve

City Hall -- they just haven’t decided what.

“I think whichever is cheapest, remodel or replace, we’ve got to

bring City Hall up to standard working conditions,” said Alan

Silcock, co-president of the West Newport Beach Assn. The association

has about 300 members.

Whatever is done, more parking is a high priority to Silcock and

those who attended the first meeting. Residents also said they want

an environmentally friendly design, and they think City Hall should

be a symbolic center of the city.

Some residents are worried about how the city would function

during construction, said Debra Allen, president of Speak Up Newport,

another community organization.

At today’s session, Torriero will present pictures of concepts

that could be included in a new or renovated building to see what

people like, and he’ll share feedback from the first meeting.

While public discussion of the project got off to a slow start,

Allen expects it to snowball.

“I think something this big needs some time for the community to

sort of recognize that there’s something being thought about,” she

said. “I don’t think it’s so much that people didn’t care; I think

it’s more that the headline didn’t grab them.”

Two subsequent meetings will be held on April 23 and 25, and those

who don’t attend can still send their thoughts and questions to an

e-mail account set up by Councilman John Heffernan at

nbcityhall@yahoo.com. As of Friday he had received 25 responses, and

in the future, he’ll share those and any others with the public.

* ALICIA ROBINSON covers government and politics. She may be

reached at (714) 966-4626 or by e-mail at alicia.robinson@

latimes.com.