Greenlight needs serious debate

The busier-than-ever Newport Beach election scene just got that much more crowded last week with the official ? but in no way unexpected ? appearance of a group intent on fighting the proposed Greenlight II initiative.

The group, Taxpayers Against Greenlight II, includes two respected former mayors, Dennis O’Neil and Jan Debay, who insist that it will be a grass-roots campaign effort. In other words, they plan to fight the slow-growth Greenlight group on its own territory.

Now, whether this group is successful will become clear late on Nov. 7. But already ? and no matter the outcome of the vote that day ? the group is serving residents of Newport Beach well by ensuring that there will be a debate about two of the city’s most important issues: development and traffic.

At the least, we hope that is what the debate will center on during the coming months. It is indisputable that the twin growth bugaboos of more traffic and more development are central concerns of Newport Beach residents. But since Greenlight first came on the scene six years ago, there has not been a meaningful debate about its core issues. With the advent of the Greenlight II initiative, which would put to public vote any project that adds more than 100 homes, 100 peak-hour car trips or 40,000 square feet of building space to what is allowed in the general plan, now is the time to have that discussion.

First, there needs to be questions about Greenlight II. What will be the ramifications of it? Will it stymie business in Newport Beach to an extent that the city’s economic health suffers? Are residents OK with such a trade-off? Or, is the opposition to Greenlight II overstating its potential effects?

Most important, there should be a discussion about how the city will handle traffic and development. What are the realistic avenues to lessen traffic and allow for responsible growth? What do the majority of Newport Beach residents think “responsible growth” is?

The Greenlight debate, coupled with the six council races, also could allow residents to debate another pressing issue: their relationship to the City Council. Many people who agree with Greenlight’s positions also feel alienated from their elected leaders. That is a shame, and it should be the goal of each council candidate (and Councilman Steve Rosansky, the lone council member not having to run for office this fall) to bridge the gap that now seems to exist between City Hall and the community.