City moves plan forward

NEWPORT BEACH — In the first meeting of the new City Council, leaders moved to initiate the general plan that voters approved on Nov. 7. Council members also held public comment on a proposed rule allowing the city to enforce state regulations of day-care centers, which would give it some more power to control drug rehabilitation centers.

Rosansky then appointed himself, Councilwoman Leslie Daigle, and Councilman Ed Selich to a new committee dedicated to turning the general plan into specific rules and policies. They will be joined by planning commission members and experts, still to be determined.

The council voted on staff recommendations on what rules to adopt before an overhaul of zoning ordinances finishes in 18 months. The council unanimously directed staffers to draft a temporary ordinance banning new development out of step with the new plan, even if the rules on the books would allow such developments in the meantime. Projects fully approved by the council before the Nov. 7 election, however, would be grandfathered in, even if they don’t meet new general plan requirements.

The city manager was also set to work on establishing a temporary review process to handle those projects that exist in the uncertain areas between old and new rules.

One recommendation rejected by the council was exempting single- and two-family homes from some general plan policies — such as those discouraging large, box-shaped mansions — until the new zoning laws were complete. Council members said they sharply disagreed with waiting so long when voters had already approved the new rules, so instead they shrank the exemption to three months, ending April 1.

“What concerns me at least is letting 18 months worth of houses through without the improvements we voted on,” Councilman Don Webb said.

The council also held a public hearing on a proposed new ordinance regulating the concentration of day-care facilities. Drug rehabilitation centers fall under the category of day-care facilities in the city’s codes. It would put state standards for large family child-care homes — some of which apply to small homes and other care centers as well — into the city law so the city can enforce them without state help.

One concern both the public and council members expressed was that there was a proliferation of small facilities that are harder to regulate.

“When you add up all these small facilities, it’s just as bad as one big facility,” Rosansky said.

The council also pushed back the vote on a $99,983 contract with the nonprofit Irvine Ranch Land Trust that would develop a detailed plan to manage the resources in Buck Gully, citing a need for further administrative work. The city took over Buck Gully from the county in 2005, promising to deal with its numerous ecological problems.