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HomeMy WebLinkAbout00 - Insider's GuideRecieved After Agenda Printed June 27, 2017 Insider's Guide Su ject: FW: Newport Beach Insider's Guide - Tuesday, June 27 2017 Hi Folks — We re decked out in Balboa Peninsula Trolley Red today for this version of a slightly shorter Insider's Guide because the Council meeting planned for June 27th might also be a tad shorter than most. It s summertime, the Budget s adopted, and the City can tend to hunker down into a busy operational mode (managing traffic, keeping the place tidy as best we can, keeping you and our visitors safe from big waves, crime, and fire, and running busy libraries and recreational programs) versus administrative items. So on to the Agenda for the meeting. Remember that I don t summarize every item on the agenda, so make sure you look at the City Clerk s agenda page to read the whole agenda if you d like. Study Session starts at 4:00 p.m., and has a handful of items: • Updating the Council about recent changes to State law that obligate us to change our Franchise Agreements with the 35 or so commercial trash haulers that work in Newport Beach. These are the haulers used by apartments, restaurants, businesses, schools and more. They can provide daily or weekly service (or something in between) and provide "roll -offs" for construction debris. • Updating the Council on our activities involving Short Term Lodgings, like Airbnb and HomeAway. In short, we ve been trying to work on improving compliance with our codes for those persons operating vacation rentals without a permit. Sometimes that means telling a homeowner that they cannot rent for short-term lodgings at a , if the home is in the R-1 zone and does not have a pre-existing short-term lodging permit. • Our yearly summary of what to expect on July 4. Which is a Tuesday this year, not a Wednesday as I wrote last time & Sorry about that mistake, but kudos to the dozen or so folks that read that far and caught it. Anyway, expect pretty much the usual stuff for July 4 — lots of traffic, our West Newport special enforcement zone w/"LUGO" fines if groups get crazy, but also some great fireworks shows and fun parades and family stuff (click here for more info). A couple of new things — know that the Balboa Trolley will be operating that day and please DO NOT bring in or use fireworks. Our PD will be more aggressive this year in trying to catch you if you do. The past years have seen too many uses of fireworks on our local streets, which can be dangerous for you and your property and subject you to fines and penalties. The evening s Regular Session is at 7:00 p.m. There are only these items that 1 II call attention to: • Council will consider appointments to lots of Boards and Commissions. As always, Council has a great list of worthy candidates to consider. Thank you to all who made the commitment to apply. While not everyone can get an appointment the first or even second time, eventually it happens. • From our Community Development Department, some contracts with various private sector firms that provide plan check, technical, and inspection services to you if you re remodeling or newly constructing a home, business, or similar. We have both in-house staff who can do this and outside plan checkers — actually, you generally can choose which path you d like. But sometimes plan reviews are shipped to outside contractors if we re overloaded with the workload internally. Calendar and other notes include: • The Trolley again. Give it a try on any weekend day or July 4 through Sunday, September 3rd. It's free and a fun way to navigate around the busy Peninsula. Limited parking is available at Hoag Hospital's lower campus (PCH and Hoag Drive — see map) if you want to send guests there. To download the Trolley Tracker app, go to the App Store and look for "Ride Systems" then select "Newport Beach" (I just tested it and it works). 3%. ':"7 + ae�fie Coast H WY M aatbt"a Cpyft F 8albaa COV02; '.13[ Can I ring my usual Summer bell about just biker and pedestrian safety in general? It's our busy season, so that means more people — and more people who aren't familiar with town. Plus some of them are probably walking or biking while texting. And Junior Guards starts on Tuesday, June 27th. So remember that a gazillion younger folks on bikes in their JG uniforms (with fins and backpacks) will be on the streets and sidewalks getting to and from two shifts of JGs each Monday through Thursday through August 10th. Please look out for all of them. It makes so much sense for us to drive a little more slowly and cautiously down Balboa, on Bayside, on Dover, on Newport Boulevard and more — and across crosswalks, through intersections, and around alleyways. Let's all survive the summer with life and limbs intact. Starting on Saturday, July 1, expect to see a few new Newport Beach boats in the Harbor under the direction of our new Harbormaster, Dennis Durgan. Dennis and his crew of harbor ambassadors will be out in the Harbor performing some (but not all) of the functions that the OC Sheriff has done in the past. For any Harbor issue not involving an emergency, call the new Harbor phone number at 949-270- 8159, or email them at harbormaster@newportbeachca.gov. The website there is www.newoortharbor.or • Finally, this is my chance to congratulate and say goodbye to Deputy City Manager Rob Houston, who is leaving us soon to become the City Manager of Fountain Valley ("a nice place to live" — and it is). I wish Rob the best in this new endeavor, as the region needs good city managers O, I thank Rob for his years of service to the City. Have a safe and sane July 4th, and as always, thanks for reading. Please forward this Guide to family, friends and members of your HOA if you represent one. I always like hearing from you, too, so please don't hesitate to ask a question or offer a comment. Sincerely, Dave Kiff Dave Kiff City Manager dkiff@newportbeachca.gov 949-644-3001 City Council Meeting Information: The Newport Beach City Council meets on the 210 and 4th Tuesdays of most months (the exceptions are August and December). Typically, there is a Study Session that starts at 4:00 p.m. Study sessions are times for the Council to take a deeper look at a specific issue, or hear a presentation, that might eventually lead to a specific and more formal action. A closed session often follows the Study Session. Closed sessions are typically to address legal, personnel, and other matters where additional confidentiality is important. The Regular (evening) Session typically starts at 7:00 p.m., and often has a specific listing of 20-40 different items ready for formal votes. Items on the "Consent Calendar" are heard all at once, unless a Council member has removed (aka "pulled") an item from the Consent Calendar for specific discussion and separate vote. If an item on the agenda is recommended to be "continued", it means that the item won't be heard nor voted on that evening, but will be pushed forward to another noticed meeting. Public Comment is welcomed at both the Study Session and the Regular Session. The public can comment on any item on the agenda. If you want to comment on a Consent Calendar item that was not pulled from the Consent Calendar by a Council Member, you will want to do so at the time listed on the agenda — right before the Council votes on the entire Consent Calendar (it's Roman Numeral XIII on the posted agenda). If an item is pulled, the Mayor will offer that members of the public can comment as that specific item is heard separately. Additionally, there is a specific section of Public Comment for items not on the agenda, but on a subject of some relationship to the city government. If you cannot attend a meeting and/or want to communicate with the City Council directly, this e-mail gets to all of them: CityCouncil@newportbeachca.gov. Please know that I get a copy of that e-mail, too, because in almost all cases it's something that the City Manager follows -up on. It's my head -start. The Council meets in the Council Chambers at 100 Civic Center Drive, off of Avocado between San Miguel and East Coast Highway. There is plenty of parking in the parking structure behind City Hall. You are always welcome to attend in person, but you can also watch on TV Time Warner / Spectrum 3 and Cox Channel 852 or stream it on your computer. This Insider's Guide is not an attempt to summarize every item on the Agenda — just the ones that seem of specific interest to Dave. I encourage you to read the full agenda if you wish.