St. Andrew’s expansion goes too far I...
St. Andrew’s expansion goes too far
I would like to address a letter in the July 13 Mailbag debating
the merits of the densities of other large projects in comparison
with the proposed St. Andrew’s church expansion project.
In order for one to begin to understand why the surrounding
neighborhoods of Newport Heights and Cliff Haven are so vehemently
opposed to the proposed expansion in the context of its residential
setting, one need not look any further than our city of Newport
Beach’s general plan.
A floor-area ratio is a factor used extensively by city and county
planning departments to measure and regulate the intensity or density
of a development project. Simply put, it is the total building area
of a project divided by the area of its site. A 50,000-square-foot
building on a 100,000-square-foot site (about 2.3 acres) would
therefore equate to a ratio of 1 to 2.
There are 19 sites in our city designated as Governmental
Educational Institutional Facilities, of which churches are included
as a use. This is the change in zoning that is being processed for
the site from its current residential zoning.
Of these 19 sites, only Hoag Hospital and Kerchoff Marine Lab are
allowed to have base densities or ratios exceeding 1 to 2. All the
other sites, which includes schools, libraries and churches range
from 1 to 10 (Mariners Elementary School among several others) to a
maximum of 0.5 (Newport Harbor High School and the Balboa Library
among them).
St. Andrew’s Church campus today has a floor area ratio of 61 to
100 and is proposing a “compromise” that results in 125,500 square
feet equating to a ratio of 73 to 100, more dense than Newport Harbor
High School. Furthermore, although below-grade parking structures are
not counted when calculating a floor-area ratio, when the proposed
two-level, below-grade parking structure is included, the total
project area would total nearly 250,000 square feet.
For those of us in the development community and those of us who
are not, it is apparent that further expansion is far from reasonable
and one that all residents in Newport Beach should be concerned with
as a potentially dangerous and negative planning precedent. It’s time
for the City Council to hold the line on maintaining the quality of
life in our residential neighborhoods.
JIM TRAMMELL
Newport Beach
Rohrabacher earns straight-up backing
I agree with Rep. Dana Rohrabacher on not giving foreign aid to
Ethiopia. I believe as Dr. Phil says, “You teach people how to treat
you,” and we’ve given aid to so many countries, and it goes to build
mansions and ships for their dictators, and I think we’re stupid to
keep letting them make fun of us, and that’s all they do.
So as he says, you teach people how to treat you, when they get by
with it they think, “Oh they’re suckers; we can do this; we can do
that.”
So I think Rohrabacher should stay firm on his belief and not give
aid to Ethiopia till they straighten up and fly right.
NORMA BRADFORD
Costa Mesa
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