MAILBAG:
It may or may not cost $6 million to $7 million to move dirt at the park site.
It may or may not cost $7 million to buy land in the 500 block of Newport Center.
Both of those cost estimates are a non-factor if city hall is rebuilt on its present site.
Height-restriction issues at the park site? There are none at the present City Hall site.
Lost in a sea of high-rise buildings at the 500 block site? The present City Hall site defines itself and the character of historic Newport Beach.
Has the issue devolved into a clash of egos? It seems so.
Does the average citizen need time to step back and look closely at the alternatives? Yes.
Should the citizens vote themselves and the present/future City Council into a box? What a silly use of the initiative process. Lost in the rhetoric are questions we should explore:
1) The fire station at the current site must be rebuilt to make it seismically safe at a cost of about $9 million no matter where the new city hall is built.
2) Will the present site be sold, generating more peninsula traffic?
I advocate a no vote on Measure B. There is no need to move ahead into a $50 million project when so many questions have not been answered.
CHUCK REMLEY
Balboa
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