The local coastal plan process used by...

The local coastal plan process used by the city of Newport Beach

could have been greatly improved, and this may have sped up the

process. The city agreed to a timetable for the plan because it

needed a special law sponsored by then-state Sen. Ross Johnson that

allowed Newport Coast to be annexed by Newport Beach but still stay

under Orange County rules so it could keep the land-use plan that

covered Newport Coast prior to annexation. The city unfortunately had

missed its obligations to the Coastal Commission prior to the

annexation and needed this special law.

Newport Beach has had a very good process for Vision 2025 and the

update of the general plan, but the local coastal plan was excluded

from that process although it has many parallel issues, including

land use and completing the bicycle trail along the beach from 36th

Street to the Santa Ana River, which is part of the California

Coastal Trail. Meetings related to the plan were held with too-short

notice and minutes were not kept for these public meetings. It was

very difficult for the public to be informed or to be part of the

process. It was very easy for the public to be involved with the

process for the general-plan update.

The Coastal Commission has been very open to public input and the

staff of the Coastal Commission has also been very helpful. The

Newport Beach manager, Patrick Alford, has also been very helpful on

any issues related to the plan when asked. It would have been helpful

to the public if the city would have made the coastal-plan process

part of the Vision 2025 and general-plan update process and shared

the volumes of public information gathered with both projects.

Opening the Vision 2025 and general plan update process to the

coastal plan may have saved time and created a more unified result.

The plan is a very important document. We should take the Coastal

Commission staff recommendations seriously and not rush to a

stand-off. In the end, the coastal plan and the general-plan update

will have to be reconciled anyhow.

EVERETTE PHILLIPS

Newport Beach

Thank you for covering the local coastal plan hearing scheduled

for today in San Diego. The question posed should be: What do you

think of the city of Newport Beach’s proposal for coastal bluff and

wetlands definition compared to the Coastal Commission’s proposal?

Or: Do you think the local coastal plan provides adequate protection

for coastal resources in Newport Beach?

This is the appropriate question, for two reasons:

* It goes to the heart of the issues addressed in the coastal

plan, that is where the Coastal Commission has requested extensive

changes to the city’s plan to increase coastal bluff and wetlands

protection.

* The delay of the plan was caused by factors on both sides, in

part by Newport Beach’s refusal to accept some of the draft changes

from the Coastal Commission staff, requiring multiple revisions, as

well as the maternity leave of a key commission staff member.

LAURA CURRAN

Newport Beach

Wetlands Action Network and the Sierra Club have many members and

supporters in Newport Beach. These residents live in the region

because they love the natural landscapes and ecosystems of the

Newport region, including Upper Newport Bay Ecological Reserve. There

are other natural landscapes and ecological functions in Newport

Beach that must be protected, both for the ecology itself, as well as

to insure property values remain high.

As we learned by watching the devastation of Hurricane Katrina in

New Orleans, coastal wetlands not only provide habitat and clean

water functions, but they also protect adjacent coastal properties

from storm surges.

The more coastal wetlands we allow to be destroyed, the more at

risk we put low-lying homes and businesses from future storm surges.

As for the definition of a wetland, as defined by state law, it is

very clear. There are three different characteristics that inform us

if a wetland exists, and any one of these three is sufficient

according to well-established law. Soil, presence of water at or near

the surface and vegetation. For all three of these characteristics,

there are established standards and scientifically determined

methodology for their determination. The city of Newport Beach, in an

effort to help developers, wants to change that definition.

Thankfully, the Coastal Commission staff does not agree. I hope

the commission will likewise see through the plan that would

undermine protection of the beautiful place Newport Beach is and the

important functions that protect resources important to both

residents of Newport Beach and all Californians.

MARCIA HANSCOM

Executive Director

Wetlands Action Network

Playa del Ray