HomeMy WebLinkAboutPA2017-228 Comment 133_05032019_ZelnerFrom: Elissa Zelner <elissagzelner@gmail.com>
Sent: Friday, May 03, 2019 9:17 AM
To: Zdeba, Benjamin
Subject: Opposition to the 4302 Ford Road Project from a Port Streets
Resident
May 3, 2019
Dear Mr. Zdeba,
I live at 1835 Port Abbey Place. Yesterday evening, a neighbor made me aware of the proposed project at 4302
Ford Road. I was astonished that I knew nothing about this project, especially since it is well into the initial
planning stages. I actually find it somewhat deceptive that there wasn’t more widespread communication so
more neighbors could have ample opportunity to voice their concerns.
I gained access to some information on the project. I would like to mention a few of my concerns.
First, the parking for potential residents in the structure will not be adequate thereby forcing overflow into the
adjacent parking lot at the park as well as onto Ford Road, which has already been impacted by parking for
soccer practice and ball games at the Bonita Canyon Sports Park. Sometimes we see spillage onto Newport
Hills West or even Port Sheffield. The additional cars of those new residents and their visitors, competing for
parking with the public who are using the park and Sports Park, will only make the parking situation worse
and cause even more parking traffic to move deeper into our Port Streets Family Community where we have
many children at play crossing the streets.
Last evening, I was coming home at 6:15 pm and had to wait, for quite a while, at the stop sign on the corner
of Mesa View and Ford. I could not go straight on Ford to our community entrance until the cars in front of me
were able to turn onto Mesa View, which they could not do because the red light at Bonita Canyon created
retrograde congestion on Mesa View and then Ford. Can you only imagine how this small, confined area is in
the morning when families are heading to CDM for school and to work. It is pretty bad! I’ve heard that some
drivers who have been waiting a long time to turn left onto Bonita Canyon have even made the left turn after
the light turns red. Now imagine the further impact on this area of our neighborhood with all those additional
cars trying to leave this small, locked-in area for work and school in the morning hours and come home at the
end of the day. Compound that with the soccer practice traffic and parking for games in the late afternoon/early
evenings and on weekends. It will make a problematic situation that much more difficult.
Also, the increased congestion of this egress area in the mornings will force some of our neighbors to seek exit
from our community by going through the less congested yet more inconvenient other three portals in order to
avoid the increased Ford/Mesa View congestion. This will have a cascading effect of increasing traffic on Port
Seabourne, the only street that allows us access to the other entry/exit gates, and therefore will increase the
number of cars passing in front of Anderson Elementary School. More car traffic passing by our neighborhood
elementary school when young children are walking to school and crossing this street! This is not desirable
from a safety point of view either.
Many in our community also rely on the bike path and the sidewalks adjacent to the proposed project to travel
to and from CDM, the park, and for recreational bike use. The poorly situated and poorly designed
entrance/exit of the complex will be extremely dangerous for pedestrians and bikers alike. Also, all those
additional cars and service vehicles entering and exiting the proposed complex will also greatly effect the
small cul-de-sac area where much of the foot and bike traffic converge. This is not safe for our children nor
any of our community members.
I thought we voted to not increase traffic congestion in Newport Beach. I have lived here since 1988 and have
seen tremendous growth in the area and tremendous increased traffic. Why do we have to build on every small
piece of land? Don’t we have enough population explosion? Think about the multitude of residences now
being built nearby on Jamboree? Don’t we have enough housing and places for rent in Newport Beach and
adjacent Irvine? There is a very large complex of apartments on the other side of Ford and MacArthur, and
plenty of condominiums and homes in our area to rent and purchase. Why do we have to support such a
poorly planned and potentially dangerous project that will also cause so much inconvenience for our
neighbors, not only in the building stages but especially after it is complete? It seems like it is not a well
thought out project from our community’s point of view. It certainly seems like it will mainly serve to line the
pockets of a few developers at the expense of the safety and quality of life of many in our community?
I hope you will rethink the use of this particular parcel of land. Perhaps something that would benefit more
people, like an extension of the park. I would like to go on record as OPPOSING this particular project.
Thank you for your time,
Elissa Zelner