HomeMy WebLinkAbout01 - MinutesAgenda Item No. 1
February 22, 1999
CITY OF NEWPORT BEACH
City Council Minutes
Adjourned Regular Meeting DRAFT
January 30, 1999 - 8:00 a.m. INDEX
Present: Adams, Glover, Thomson, Debay, Ridgeway, Noyes, Mayor O'Neil
Absent: None
1. WELCOME AND INTRODUCTORY REMARKS
Mayor O'Neil welcomed the staff, the Council and requested that the
members of the community introduce themselves. He announced that the
facilitator for the meeting is John Shannon, whose firm is handling the
recruitment for the new city manager.
2. GOAL SETTING CONFERENCE OVERVIEW
City Council/City Mana¢er Form of Government
John Shannon explained the CouncilNlanager form of government and how
it has evolved in Newport Beach. He explained the history of the
Councini Tanager form of government pointing out that it formed in the early
1900's and it is the predominant type of management for local government
across the country. At the time it was formed it was a response to various
types of political corruption that was occurring across the country and it was
formed to create stability and a sense of integrity to government. The way
that this form of government works with the City's Charter is that it places
the full responsibility of the political leadership of the community on the
Mayor and the Council and it combines with that the expertise of the chief
executive officer and a highly trained staff of professionals to implement the
Council's policy and direction. The power under this model is centralized in
the Council and in the Council acting as seven members. It provides the
ultimate in responsiveness to the community in that the Council has the
complete and direct control over the operations of the organization through
the City Manager. He gave a comparison of this type of government to that
which has directly elected chief administrative officers (i.e. county
government). The Council's function under this arrangement as it is laid out
in the Charter is to serve as the legislative body, to provide the vision for the
community, to set the priorities and to hold the organization accountable for
the achievement of the Council's priorities and objectives through the
manager. The focus on this form of government is on the Council and if you
do a parallel to the private sector, the Council functions as the board of
directors and the manager functions as the president and chief executive
officer. The manager function under this form and the way it is laid out in
the City's Charter is consistent with the way it is done across the country.
The manager is hired by the Council and can be removed by the Council at
their will, however there is a provision in the Charter that provides a 90 -day
cooling off period after municipal elections. Under the City's Charter the
City Manager is responsible for the budget and is responsible for the
appointment and management of all staff except other Council appointed
officials. The manager serves as the chief policy advisor to the Council and
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is responsible ultimately for carrying out Council's policy and providing
complete and objective information to the Council so they can make the
policy choices that need to be made. One other aspect of the job is that the
manager becomes the person in day to day operations that is responsible for
maintaining the integrity of the organization. There is a lot of talk about the
role of the manager and policy and there is an old theory in local government
that Council sets policy and the manager implements policy. The reality is
that in most places they work as a team but there is a clear understanding in
the area of policy that the manager can make recommendations, can provide
advice, but ultimately the Council makes the policy choice and it is up to the
manager to implement both the spirit as well as the specifics of that policy
direction. In addition, in this forum there is a mayor and the mayor is
selected by the Council Members and serves for a period of time. Generally
the mayor serves as the political leader, will be viewed from the outside
world as a focal point, presides at Council meetings, facilitates
communication among Council Members and with the public, will take a
lead role in assisting the Council in setting goals and priorities, is out front
in promoting and defending the community and will frequently be a real
focal point of intergovernmental relations. In addition, the City's Charter
includes a non - interference provision that says if the Council's job is to make
policy and the manager's job is to run the organization, then direction to the
organization is to be given through the manager, but requests for
information and interchange on those matters can be done across the
departments directly by Council Members. The fundamental principle is
that if the manager is held accountable for running the organization then
direction must be given through the manager. This is particularly important
when there are issues of shifts in policy and reallocations of resources, etc.
He said the City's Charter is well- written and is very clear about the Council
and manager's roles and provides a framework in which to manage the
organization. He noted that there are things that can disrupt this
relationship. There are generally five things that can happen that can make
this form of government less successful than it is capable of being. The first
is the role reversal. The role reversal is where the Council becomes very
focused on day to day administration and on solving fairly low level
administrative problems and the staff sees a vacuum and moves into the
policy setting role. It is very important that the organization is clear about
how communication with staff will take place, how direction will be given to
staff and how priorities will be readjusted or realigned. It is ultimately
something that is based on the level of trust in the relationship among the
Council Members and with the manager. One thing that can be very
dangerous to the system is if there is any political involvement by the
manager. If the manager gets in a role of counting votes, pooling coalitions
of Council Members together to push an agenda or becomes a real advocate
for an agenda that is running at cross purposes with the Council that will
most certainly lead to a major disruption in the government. Another issue
is unequal treatment of Council Members. If a manager and staff ever get
into a situation where they provide different levels of information to
individual Council Members, put a different spin on an issue to one Council
Member versus another, and are not viewed as objective and even -handed
that will break down the trust and break down the ability of the organization
to function. The last one to cause difficulty is the implementation of policy.
There are two problems and the first is the Council's ability to be clear about
what they want done and to be fairly specific with staff and staffs innate
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ability to interpret that policy and to implement it. The second one is if
Council gives direction and they think they've given direction and it falls
into what is called a "black hole" somewhere, which can be as disconcerting
as anything to a group of elected officials. A variation on that is the
implementation of the specifics but not the spirit of the recommendation.
Conference Objectives
Mr. Shannon explained that the Council is here to carry forth their major
responsibility in the Charter, which is to provide policy direction to the staff
and to provide the policy leadership to the community. He said he
understands that the Council has a number of significant on -going issues
that they want to be informed about by staff and in some cases will provide
direction. Today staff is prepared to provide the Council with that
information, respond to questions and take the Council's direction. There
will also be an opportunity for each Council Member to express to staff what
their priorities are in their districts so those can be taken and folded into the
City's work program and can be addressed. In terms of the roles, Mr.
Shannon explained that the meeting will be presided over and chaired by the
Mayor and he will be available to assist with timing, etc. and also be
available to record any major observations, findings or directions.
Mayor O'Neil noted that this is a noticed public Council meeting and the
Council can take official action. There may be votes taken on some items
and other items may be referred to future study sessions. Some items may
be referred back to the staff for additional information at either another City
Council meeting or at a study session.
Administration of NemMort Beach Tidelands
Mayor O'Neil explained that the administration of the tidelands has been a
topic that the City has looked at recently, there is some feeling that the
review of how the City administers the tidelands has not been updated and
that it is time to look at how pier permits are issued, how leases are entered
into with commercial establishments that use the public waterways, review
some of the offshore mooring issues, whether or not the City is receiving
appropriate value for the leases and permits and should there be a better
way to enforce the permits.
Fire and Marine Chief Tim Riley explained that this item is on the agenda to
provide some direction to the staff on the issue of tidelands administration,
and to clarify the task that they hope to achieve with the City Council at the
February 22nd Study Session. In December a report was presented to
Council to outline what tidelands are, what the City's activities are related
to the tidelands, as well as some issues for consideration to assist staff with
the management of this asset. As a result of that meeting Deputy Chief
Tony Melum, Assistant to the City Manager Dave Kiff, and he have worked
to try to determine what the issues are that the Council should take up at
the February 22nd study session, what the goals for this year are, and to give
staff better direction on where to go with state tidelands. Through the use of
a computerized presentation and included as part of the staff report, he
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explained that tidelands are tidal, submerged, and some filled lands owned
by the State but held in trust by the City. In 1997 the Patterson map was
redone, which identifies the boundary lines of all tidelands in the corporate
limits of Newport Beach. The Beacon Bay Bill gives the City guidance as to
what can be done with the state tidelands. The Bill says that these trust
assets can be used for the purposes of general statewide interest, such as
public wharves, docks, piers...; public beaches, marinas; and to preserve and
maintain the natural state of the land for scientific study as open space,
habitat for birds, marine life and scenic values. Today the City administers
21 different leases (i.e. Balboa Bay Club, American Legion, MarinaPark,
Balboa Island Ferry); 66 commercial harbor permits; 1,200 annual permits
for residential use of the tidelands; and 714 offshore and 484 onshore
mooring permits. The things that need to be looked at are the way state
tidelands are administered — is the City managing the tidelands in a manner
which protects the general statewide interest? Another issue is equity —
what's fair in terms of who pays what for using the tidelands? One of the
concerns that has been addressed is how well is the condition of people's
leases and/or permits monitored — can the City better inspect and monitor its
leases and permits for user compliance? Another key issue — does the City's
fee structure appropriately recapture the City's Tidelands current costs?
The challenges are the future cost that the City may need to recapture — is
the tidelands administration an appropriate way to do that? As a result of
this, the staff has come up with some recommended tidelands goals. They
are: 1) set new Council policies that describe what should be on a lease
versus what should be on a permit; 2) establish the manner in which lease
rent and lease terms are set; 3) findings as to how the City fairly protects the
general statewide interest of the trust; 4) clarify the issue of City tidelands
staffing; and 5) development of a basic lease agreement.
Council Member Debay addressed concerns and support for spot dredging.
Director of Public Works said this would be investigated in more detail and
noted that the City has not done an active dredging program in the Newport
Island area or in the Newport Shores area. Chief Riley said that this year
the staff plans to do a lower bay dredging study and explained the City's
beach replenishment program and the need to expand that program.
In response to Council Member Debay's question about city administration of
the bay versus county administration, Chief Riley reported that staff has not
actively looked at whether the City should control the Harbor Patrol
functions. He explained that the Harbor Patrol is funded by County
Harbors, Beaches and Parks Assessment District and minor portions of the
County tidelands help pay for it as well. Council Member Debay said she
would like to know the pros and cons of it.
A member of the audience (name not given) noted that there was a time
when the City had a budget for dredging hot spots in the area referred to
and it was removed a long time ago. He said the residents would like to see
a fixed amount from the federal, state and local governments to help take
care of the bay. He said there are also residents that feel that the City would
do a better job of taking care of the harbor than the County.
Council Member Ridgeway clarified that the tidelands administration refers
to the lower bay and not the upper bay. He noted that a policy decision that
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needs to be determined is the MarinaPark issue. He said he has stated
openly that he feels that MarinaPark should be interpreted as uplands and
not tidelands. He said he thinks the City needs to make an even- handed
policy decision from a business perspective on all of the tidelands and look at
the economic returns to the City.
Council Member Glover stated in reference to financing as it pertains to the
larger marina areas, that the City of Long Beach has a program for leasing,
and she believes the City should look at that. She said that it is in Newport
Beach's best interest to keep the county, the state and the feds involved
because there are millions of dollars involved in this process and they are the
ones that help in the funding. She voiced a need for the City to settle the
MarinaPark issue as soon as possible.
Council Member Noyes questioned how the commercial and residential dock
fees compare, as well as the County's fees vs. the City's fees. Chief Riley
explained that the residential dock fees are based on a set dollar amount and
not based on usage. Acting City Manager Danner explained that any
surplus in the tidelands fund is transferred to the General Fund. City
Attorney Burnham further noted that any surplus of tideland revenue over
tideland expenses would go back to the State Lands Commission. Mr.
Burnham explained that the Regional Water Board is currently considering
the pathogen TMDL (total maximum daily loads) for pathogens that can
make you sick. Depending upon what the Regional Board decides in terms
of the City's responsibility for monitoring the input into the bay from the
storm drains and the input into the bay from vessel waste in the harbor, the
City's costs could range from $15,000 per year to some larger number. The
Regional Board is going to act on the 51h and before that time staff will meet
with the Regional Board staff to try to find out what they expect the City to
do if the Board takes the action that is anticipated. The City will have to
retain someone to develop those plans and give the City cost estimates in
order to come back to the City Council and advise what the costs will be. In
most respects the costs will be at least shared with the County and in some
respects the costs of the pathogen TMDL will be shared with other public
entities. Chief Riley explained further the costs involved with the beach
replenishment program, as well as eelgrass replacement programs.
Mayor O'Neil said that the Council would receive more detailed information
about fees at the study session and said he would be interested in finding out
if the City ever has any excess revenues from tidelands. He said there needs
to be an innovative review of how tidelands revenue might be spent — for
example, if there is a roadway system that leads the public to the beach, is it
appropriate to use tidelands funds to repair the roadways? He said he would
be interested in knowing what leeway the City has in using these funds. If
the City is going to be getting into more dredging and dealing with the
contaminants in the bay and the waterway systems, the City will need
additional sources of revenue and it is important to be up to date in the
appraisal information on whether the City is receiving fair market value
before the lease or permitting of the tideland areas. He said he would also
like staff to provide more detail on residential permits and the rights to use
the tidelands and noted that there is a certain body of law that regulates
that and he would like to have that available on the 22nd.
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Council Member Debay requested that staff make some calls prior to the
meeting on February 22 ^d to find out what kind of source control there is for
the watershed — who has the responsibility to check the different outflows in
different areas so that if there is something harmful coming from a certain
area that it can be tracked back?
Jim Turner, 409 Bayside Drive, said he would be interested in knowing the
ownership of the channel in front of his house and who is responsible for
dredging. Mayor O'Neil requested that staff provide a map on the 22nd
showing where the City tidelands are, where the County tidelands are, and
where the City has jurisdiction.
Council Member Debay requested that the staff bring back information on
where the feds are dredging in the lower bay.
Steve Barrett said he feels there will never be a reserve. He addressed
concerns with toxic sludge and the cost to remove it. He said the boaters are
accused of dumping their waste in the bay, and he represented that he has
never witnessed that in twenty years. He said he feels there are other ways
to get increased revenues and use it directly for the bay.
Charles Griffin said that living on the island he has had salmonella and
addressed the duck problem and said it needs to be controlled.
Council Member Ridgeway noted that years ago there was a large pipe from
the bay at 151h Street to the ocean to help facilitate flushing and also a pipe
in the Newport Island area to the ocean to facilitate flushing. He asked that
this be placed on a future agenda for review.
General Services Director Dave Niederhaus announced that earlier this
week staff was called to the Grand Jury of Orange County. The Grand Jury
is studying the storm drain and run -off problems and will be issuing
recommendations to all the cities.
General Plan Update
Assistant City Manager Sharon Wood stated that the idea of updating the
General Plan originated at EQAC based on some frustration and concern
with the number of General Plan Amendments that they are being asked to
review in the environmental process. She noted that the Economic
Development Committee has reached a similar conclusion and for them it
started with some strategic planning and they feel there needs to be some
comprehensive planning done even if it begins with the vision process.
Referring to the outline provided as part of the staff report she noted that it
contains the strengths and weaknesses of the General Plan as identified by
staff, some approaches that can be taken to update it and how to fund that.
Also listed are some questions for the Council's discussion.
In summary, she explained that the existing General Plan is so specific that
there needs to be a number of amendments made. As staff, the Planning
Commission and the Council look at the amendment requests there isn't
very much big picture policy guidance to assist with evaluating the
amendment requests. In practice, TPO and traffic have been the governing
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factors and most of the time is spent on those issues. If there isn't a traffic
problem then in all likelihood the amendment is approved and if there is a
traffic problem it may not be approved or it is scaled back. As there are
many amendments coming up, it may be appropriate for the City to consider
whether that kind of a system should be used to evaluate changes to the
General Plan or should there be some policy guidance on larger issues, such
as how much intensity of development does the City want to have, and how
much tourism related development does the City want to have, and does the
City want to consider future development in terms of how services are paid
for that are provided by the City. She noted that the report provided by
Public Works on infrastructure states that in order to keep up with the
infrastructure the City would need $6.5 million per year. If the City Council
wants to proceed with a General Plan update of some kind there are a range
of approaches that could be taken. She stated that the comprehensive
update would cost between $500,000 - $600,000 and would take between 2 -3
years. She indicated that staff would favor an approach that focuses either
on strategic questions or specific geographic areas where there is the most
concern. Even doing that it is a big undertaking and that needs to be
understood before proceeding since it will require a lot of time and outreach.
If the approach is to do something more quickly with fewer resources and
still also be valuable in addressing individual projects as they come through,
perhaps some kind of visioning process would assist staff and Council as the
projects come up.
In response to Mayor Pro Tern Thomson, Ms. Wood explained that the
Housing Element is the only component of the General Plan that has an
update requirement. The state requires that it be updated every five years,
however it has been delayed because the state has not funded the number -
crunching for the regional housing units.
In answering questions on priorities, Ms. Wood said that the Housing
Element has to be a priority because it is required and staff should be able to
handle that without additional resources. She noted that on Friday a grant
application was submitted requesting approximately $400,000 to assist with
the harbor element. She said she thinks that most General Plan issues in
the coastal zone can be addressed under this grant as well. She noted that
staff is hearing from a lot of sectors that the interim TPO revisions are items
that can go forward without the more comprehensive planning.
Planning Director Patty Temple reported that she has been communicating
with the Coastal Commission staff in San Francisco as the LCP grant
application has been developed and specifically talked about the idea of a
harbor element and interweaving it with a public access plan. It really
addresses how the competing stakeholders for the harbor can be addressed
in a comprehensive fashion and not just in the financial areas, but on what
kind of uses occur in the harbor, how they are allocated, what level of
intensity is allowed, how they interact with the uplands, and how the
uplands provide support facilities such as parking, restrooms, trash
facilities, etc. for all the uses in the bay. She noted that the Coastal
Commission staff member was extremely interested in the idea and stated
that she was excited about the prospect because at no time has any agency
ever suggested doing something of that nature absent a developer specific
project submitted for approval.
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Council Member Adams asked for staffs thoughts regarding annexation and
asked if the Council is going to consider a General Plan update or even
updates in just certain elements and should that happen after or before
annexation.
Ms. Wood said that the greatest concern would be the time commitment of
City Council and staff and whether there are enough people to work on both
issues. She noted that Newport Coast is already addressed in the existing
General Plan and she doesn't believe the City is talking about potential
changes to the development pattern in that area, therefore she doesn't see
that as an issue area to be addressed in an update.
Council Member Adams noted that in addition to the cost for the
consultants, the cost for staff time would be tremendous and would probably
far exceed the cost for consulting time.
Ms. Wood said that she too believes it would take a significant staff
commitment and if this is to be pursued an employee would probably need to
be added to the Planning staff at the Principal Planner level who could take
care of the day to day things and free up the Planning Director to manage
this project.
Council Member Adams says he believes there is a perception from the
community that there is going to be some magic revelation that is going to
come through a General Plan update in regard to circulation and land use.
He said he thinks the City will be setting themselves for a huge
disappointment if that is what the expectation is, because that won't happen.
Right now, he said he thinks it makes more sense to take on the harbor
element and incorporate that in the General Plan through the LCP process.
He said it probably makes more sense to look at specific plans, particularly
an airport area specific plan, in lieu of a comprehensive general plan update
and maybe consider an updated Circulation Element
Ms. Wood said she has some concern with taking on geographic areas
separate from one another.
Council Member Adams noted that the land use areas that the City will
probably want to look at are the airport area and maybe Newport Center and
when that is done CEQA will require that the impacts on the entire City be
looked at. He said he doesn't think it is right that traffic has become the
only thing that is considered when making land use decisions. He said he
thinks it is more a matter of policy and the way the Council disciplines
themselves in looking at decisions that may need to be changed, however
isn't sure that it necessitates a complete General Plan update.
Council Member Ridgeway said he has been a proponent of a General Plan
update, especially the Land Use Element and the Circulation Element. He
concurred that the City has been a regulatory city and not a policy driven
city on the land use decisions and yet years ago an attempt was made to
identify the airport as a commercial business center and it has been
regulated highly because of traffic. He said he believes the piecemeal
approach that is being used at the airport and Fashion Island needs to be
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dispensed with. He pointed out that as he has stated in the past he feels the
TPO is out of sequence with the General Plan update or the two elements he
referred to (Land Use and Circulation). He concurred that most of the
community is largely built -out. He noted that the Bonita Canyon annexation
has created an unintended consequence and that is a lot more traffic than
was originally analyzed. He said that the Council needs to establish a larger
policy for what needs to happen and in doing that, the residential and
commercial interests can best be balanced in a broad policy statement, and a
Master EIR needs to be created that gets supplemented if somebody wants to
change it at a later date. Another side component of doing it that way is if
the Council agrees from a policy perspective that there is a greater amount
of square footage needed in the airport area and the quality of life can be
maintained, then the City needs to look hard at a circulation system and
perhaps redesign it and reestablish the fair share fees. He said he thinks
the City is remiss if they don't proceed forward with a General Plan
amendment, albeit it Circulation and Land Use Element at this time. He
said he thinks the City can focus geographically on the airport area, Newport
Center, and probably Mariner's Mile. Referring to the TPO he said he feels
it is inappropriate to have exempt intersections without having a complete
General Plan update.
Council Member Glover noted that all of the exempt intersections are in
either Mariner's Mile or in the airport area. She said she feels the Council
has too much on their plate to do the General Plan update and feels the
annexation is where the priority should be. She said it is important to have
the new city manager on board before doing anything. She noted that she
distributed her idea about a City visioning program which she feels should
be implemented for the upcoming year and each of the Council Members
should meet with their constituents to discuss it. She concurred that the
City's projects are based on traffic and not what is best for the City.
It was the consensus of the Council to table the General Plan update
discussions for a couple of months until the new city manager is on board
and the City Council can provide that person with specific direction about a
visioning plan. While doing this, the TPO and LCP will continue to move
through the process.
Recess and Reconvene
The Council took a brief recess at 9:45 a.m. and reconvened at 10:00 a.m. with all
members present.
Infrastructure Systems Update
Mayor O'Neil announced that due to time constraints the infrastructure
systems update will be postponed until a future study session.
On the wastewater master plan, Council Member Debay asked whether staff
has talked to the Orange County Sanitation District on what they are doing
with cities and the replacement of infrastructure. She said they are very
concerned about the next twenty years and the capacity and don't want to
have to build another outfall. She said they are willing to cut down on the
infiltration and inflow in some of the older areas.
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Director of Public Works Don Webb stated that staff has submitted one
application in conjunction with the Arches interchange project for the inflow
and infiltration program. Staff also looked at the peninsula and did not find
sufficient infiltration, however staff will be studying that and trying to pin
down those sewers that would benefit most from that particular program
and will be working with the County on it.
Newport Coast Annexation
Assistant to the City Manager Dave Kiff reminded everyone that the
annexation is merely a proposal and the City has not taken any formal
action to start the clock on an annexation of the Newport Coast. Since late
1997 a fiscal impact analysis has been completed, a staff report has been
presented to the City Council on the land use entitlements, and staff spent
four to five months meeting with a team of Newport Coast residents who
appeared at the Council in late February of 1998. The talks ended in
September when the coast residents asked for time off to conduct and review
a fiscal impact analysis of coast cityhood. They completed their analysis, yet
the City has not received a copy of it. In late 1998 the coast resident and
master homeowners association president, Jim McGee, who was part of their
negotiating team, contacted the City again and suggested the renewal of
discussions. At the same time, representatives of the Pelican Point
Development near Corona del Mar have inquired about a smaller annexation
prior to any larger action on the coast.
Mr. Kiff said that from the City of Newport Beach's perspective this is a
natural part of the City's growth since it is part of it's sphere. As far as why
the City should annex the area, the City would gain "limited" control over
some coast development. Some residential development does pay and it
make fiscal sense to annex a residential area if the property evaluations are
above a certain level. For the City of Newport Beach that is about $570,000
per parcel. Some of the reasons why the City shouldn't annex is that some
residents have argued that all growth is not good and the coast community
does not necessarily fit in with the City's communities, and the control
gained is indeed limited. The City may be only able to process modifications
of existing units. From the Newport Coast perspective, annexation would be
attractive to them because of better law enforcement times, no more non-
resident surcharges from the City so they would have unfettered access to
the City's top quality services, and they could participate in the commissions
and council. From their perspective the reason why not to proceed with
annexation is they think there may be a better option (coast cityhood or
remaining unincorporated). One of the issues that the City Council needs to
address before annexation is entitlements. There are 4600 dwelling units
entitled in the coast and there are 2150 resort units, 1800 of which can be
privately owned or timeshares. As a condition of agreeing to the annexation,
The Irvine Company has asked the City to enter into a development
agreement to guarantee those entitlements. This is important because The
Irvine Company, as a significant landowner, is required to give permission
and has a stake in the City's annexation. The second issue is TOT on
timeshares. With the 1800 resort units proposed to be privately owned, the
other 350 can be hotel rooms. In reviewing the data, staff has seen that
about 3010 of the other 1800 units would be placed into a nightly rental pool
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where TOT does apply. The larger question is can the City apply a TOT or a
TOT in -lieu on current entitlements — probably not. Staff has looked at this
issue in a number of ways and does not see an option for the City to go back
and apply a TOT on these projects that are already entitled in the coast. He
noted that there are five hotels in the area, one of which is under
construction today. The third issue is building permits and inspections. The
Irvine Company has asked that upon annexation they would be able to
continue to process all the building inspections and permits through the
County of Orange. A fourth issue is water and sewer service. IRWD is the
current provider and arguably the City has the right to take over that water
and sewer service both through LAFCO law and through two agreements
that were drafted in 1972 and 1973. Those two agreements clearly show
that the City can take over that service. It would involve a capital expense
to fund it — possibly $6 million to hook up the City's pipes to the pipes that
are there. The issue arises that 1RWD customers pay lower rates than the
City and that is because in the coast area their rates are subsidized by
property taxes and commodity charges. When viewed separately the raw
cost of water isn't much different. In light of these issues and the potential
that the coast residents would oppose switching water services, last year the
City Council directed staff to pursue a buyout of the City's 1972 and 1973
rights — in other words get some compensation for the agreements that the
City entered into in 1972 and 1973. Another issue is refuse collection. The
City's ordinance adopted in November of 1996 says that people who live
within the City's boundaries as of November of 1996 can never pay for
residential curbside collection with anything but property taxes. It was
silent on what the City can do in annexed areas. A brand new resident at
One Ford Road and the Castaways gets their trash collected for free, but a
brand new resident in Bonita Canyon pays for it. Waste Management today
holds the collection contract in the coast and the City has to honor that
agreement for five years after annexation. The decision for the Council
would be does the City want to keep the trash service as is in the coast,
should the City pay for it, which would mean paying Waste Management
directly, or would the City pay for it after five years after notice is given on
Waste Management's franchise and potentially have the City's forces take
over the area. The next issue is Council districts. One "demand" by the
coast negotiation team is that the coast be placed entirely in one Council
district after annexation. He questioned whether this would be the best for
them. The next issue is parks and parkways. The City included the cost of
paying for the maintenance of the coast parks in the fiscal impact analysis.
If the City pays for it the now private parks would become public and Coast
residents are not certain that they want that. There has also been talk
about keeping the parks private but allowing the Community Services staff
to program the parks under an agreement with the master association.
Another issue is slope maintenance, which is not in dispute now. The City
needs to clearly delineate which slopes would be the City's maintenance
responsibility for upkeep after annexation and which would remain with the
master association. The next issue is the County tax sharing agreement.
The County has committed to the City that it will use the master property
tax sharing agreement should the City decide to complete the annexation,
which means that the City and the County would split the County share of
the 1% levy. The master split is about 51% for the City and 49% for the
County. The County has implied that the City could receive more of this
split if the City is willing to include additional territories in the annexation.
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The County is interested in divesting itself of some of the 100's of
unincorporated islands that it operates, like Santa Ana Heights. Based on
the last review the properties in Santa Ana Heights did not make the
annexation a net positive for the City. The County may be interested in
formally sweetening the pot to include a higher share of the coast property
taxes in exchange for the City's annexation of the Heights. He noted that
staff has discussed making a similar adjustment for the County share of the
property tax in the specific areas where the timeshares will be developed.
Given that the County itself approved the timeshare entitlements, he said he
believes the County should also provide the City with an incentive to take
them in. This incentive may be a higher share of the basic levy from the
property taxes in the timeshare area alone. The next issue is special tax
relief, which is the second formal demand made by the coast resident
negotiating team. They have demanded that the City find a way to reduce
their property tax burden as a result of the annexation. A coast resident
today pays their 1% basic levy and on top of that they pay another $6700 in
special taxes relating to their development (Assessment District 88 -1 and a
Newport -Mesa Mello -Roos District). They have asked that the City return
some of the surplus caused by the annexation back to the coast residents to
reduce these special taxes. In late 1997 the City Council said it would not do
so with the City's share of the property tax, but it left open the possibility of
using the IRWD buy -out money. Finally the phasing of the annexation is an
issue. There are a variety of alternatives — all of the coast could be annexed
at once, all of the coast and Santa Ana Heights could be annexed if there
were an incentive to do so; a smaller annexation involving Pelican Point, the
hotel sites, the golf course and Wishbone Hill; Pelican Point alone; or the
City could process two annexations concurrently — one covering the
populated area and one covering the unpopulated area; and finally the
Council could take no action. He noted that the issue of phased annexation
may call into question the status of the MOU with the Fire Authority. The
MOU says that the property taxes and fire station shift to the Newport
Beach Fire and Marine Department upon annexation of the area that
includes the station. A scenario may need to be negotiated where the station
is not annexed in the first round but the City gets the appropriate property
tax share in the area actually annexed. He stated that all of this depends
upon the landowner, the coast residents and the Council's willingness to
proceed with the annexation. He reminded the Council that the residents of
Newport Beach are stakeholders, but not voters, so they rely on the City
Council to make the best decision for the City.
Mr. Kiff recommended that the Council form an ad hoc committee to meet
with the coast residents and to set a sixty -day time limit on that discussion.
Staff would be directed to complete the talks with The Irvine Company over
the development agreement, complete the talks with IRWD and the Fire
Authority, and negotiate a higher property tax with the County within the
same time period. At the conclusion of sixty days move forward either with
the full annexation if there is a sense of agreement from the coast
negotiating team or a partial annexation of Pelican Point and possibly the
golf courses, the hotel sites, and the Wishbone Hill area, with the prior
approval of the property owners and successful negotiations with The Irvine
Company, the Fire Authority, IRWD and the County.
In response to Council Member Adams' question about annexing
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geographical areas (populated vs. unpopulated areas) and the possible
creation of islands, Mr. Kiff said it would not create an island assuming
Pelican Point is also annexed. He noted that LAFCO law specifically says
that you can't isolate an area on all four sides or an area bounded by the
ocean. From a property owner vote standpoint, Mr. Kiff said he feels there is
less opposition to a partial annexation and it would also take the steam out
of a possible cityhood proposal. He explained that the areas described in the
1972 and 1973 agreements with IRWD centers around the Pelican Hill area
and the area immediately east of that and not the ridge.
In response to Council Member Ridgeway, Mayor O'Neil explained that the
County has a development agreement with The Irvine Company that allows
The Irvine Company to develop the hotel sites with a certain percentage of
timeshares. 83p10 of the resort hotel uses on the coast are allowed to be built
as timeshares pursuant to the development agreement. Mr. Kiff further
explained that the County only has one hotel in it's unincorporated area that
it receives TOT from so they see that as a negligible source of revenue. Mr.
Mff explained that the only TOT that the County would collect would be for
those timeshares that the owners don't use for a particular day or week that
goes into the nightly rental pool, which is about 30%. He noted that there
are five sites designated as hotels /timeshare units.
Council Member Glover said she feels that doing these things in a sixty -day
time period is rather optimistic. In response to questions raised by Council
Member Glover, Mr. Mff clarified that if the area is annexed for 17% of the
rooms the City would get TOT for every night they are rented. Mr. Burnham
further clarified that the City would get all of the TOT revenue generated by
that use once it is annexed, however the timeshares don't generate TOT like
hotels do, but whatever use of those timeshares was covered by the City's
TOT ordinance, the City would get all the revenue and the County wouldn't
get any. Mr. Kiff pointed out that all of the timeshares that are unused have
to be sent back to the management company and rented for nightly use and
would be subject to TOT. Of the 2150 rooms, 1800 of those can be
timeshares, so 350 rooms will always be in the TOT pool and then another
30% of the 1800 will also be in the TOT pool because they'll be unused
timeshares. Mr. Burnham reported that the City's ordinance says that
timeshare developments require a development agreement and the
ordinance says that the development agreement will provide revenue
essentially akin to or equal to what the City would receive if it were a hotel.
He pointed out that since The Irvine Company and their successors have
vested rights, it will be more difficult for the City to negotiate a development
agreement that would be favorable to the City. Mr. Kiff said that in
negotiating with The Irvine Company on the development agreement, they
believe that imposing a TOT requirement or a TOT in -lieu would make the
properties much less marketable to the hotel companies and they have said
they are inclined not to agree to that. If Pelican Point were included in the
annexation, it would become a voting and inhabited annexation, so The
Irvine Company would represent a single voter, and, as a landowner voter,
their single vote could not overturn the annexation. He clarified that if
Pelican Point is added it becomes an inhabited and registered voter election
instead of a landowner voter election. Mr. Burnham pointed out that the
property that is covered by the development agreement between the County
and The Irvine Company comes to the City with those restrictions for at
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least eight years according to the Bergeson Bill. The City would have to
abide by the terms and conditions of that development agreement for at least
eight years and up to fifteen years depending upon certain terms and
conditions. Mayor O'Neil pointed out that the financial projections for the
annexation took into account that the City would not receive that TOT and
the bottom line was that the City would still be on the plus side. Acting
Finance Director Dick Kurth pointed out that in negotiating with the County
the City might have good grounds to indicate that because of this TOT
entitlement the City deserves a higher share of the property tax allocation.
Council Member Noyes voiced concerns with the TOT issue and the use of
City services and questioned the cost for the hotels to use the paramedic
service. Chief Riley explained the cost to the hotels, and pointed out that it
covers the non - insurance covered costs, however the City still goes after the
insurance or medicare reimbursement. Council Member Noyes pointed out
that Hawaii has just come up with a state bill that applies TOT to
timeshares and it has a formula that is based on maintenance fees. Mr. Kiff
pointed out that in state law there are two different classifications for
timeshares. There is a timeshare estate which people literally own, which is
what is proposed for the Newport Coast, and the state law explicitly
prohibits the City from charging transient occupancy tax on a timeshare
estate. Mr. Burnham reported that the attorney for the City of Anaheim has
taken a position on the second category of timeshares where there isn't
direct ownership that the City of Anaheim as a charter city, has the
authority to impose its own in -lieu TOT ordinance on that type of ownership.
When there is a timeshare estate, an ownership of undivided portions of fee,
there is additional property tax applied to that particular estate so each
estate is taxed by the assessor and the appropriate jurisdiction receives their
share of that revenue. Mayor O'Neil questioned whether the City can
impose a timeshare tax, similar to a TOT, on users of a hotel without
needing to amend the development agreement with The Irvine Company.
Mr. Burnham affirmed that this could be done. Council Member Noyes
suggested that the Council appoint an ad hoc committee to review the TOT
issues in the City. Mayor Pro Tern Thomson pointed out that the City
receives property tax every time a unit is sold, so there is an offset against
the TOT loss.
In regard to the IRWD issues, Mayor Pro Tern Thomson said that if this area
is going to be in the City, the City should be running the water and sewer
systems and have control over it. The extra fees that are being paid now are
not being kept in the City and are used by the IRWD in other areas that they
serve. He said it is important to maintain the credibility of where the money
goes and from whom. In order to do that the City needs to take it over and
identify the specific bonds in Mello -Roos that are being paid for those areas.
Mayor O'Neil said he believes it is appropriate to appoint an ad hoc
committee to open up the negotiations again. He appointed Mayor Pro Tern
Thomson, Council Member Ridgeway and Council Member Debay to serve on
this ad hoc committee.
In response to Council Member Adams, Mr. Kiff said that LAFCO law is
silent on how a timeshare vote is valued. He said they are called registered
voter districts so he assumes that if they are a registered voter in their
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timeshare estate, then they could indeed vote, however his expectation is
that owners will maintain their voter registration at their permanent
address and not become registered voters in Newport Coast. Mr. Kiff
clarified that The Irvine Company would have one vote for every parcel they
own, however he doesn't think they would outweigh the number of votes
from Pelican Point. He also stated that if Santa Ana Heights or Bay Knolls
were added all of those votes are totaled and to pass it only requires a
majority of the total voted.
Motion by Council Member Ridgeway to have the new ad hoc committee
meet with the coast residents and to set a ninety -day time limit on that
discussion and to also include information for the Council on Santa Ana
Heights. Staff was directed to complete the talks with The Irvine Company
over the development agreement, complete the talks with IRWD and the
Fire Authority, and to negotiate a higher property tax with the County
within the same time period.
Charles Griffin said he looks to this area as a natural corridor that has been
utilized to get to El Toro. He says there is a federal law that says that
offshore oil has to provide funds to the federal government to acquire urban
parks and that fund has now been utilized. He said the City needs to get
that in order to acquire this property. He said there is recreational open -
space that has been agreed upon, however it is not being deeded over to the
County or the City and it would be appropriate to go after funds aggressively
to acquire the property as a natural park. He said the residents have been
working for over ten years to save that space.
Tom Hyans requested that the City lay out a Councilmanic district
reorganization map assuming Banning, Pelican Point and the Newport
Coast areas are annexed. Mayor Pro Tem Thomson reported that staff is
currently determining the population centers around the entire City by
association and by segmented areas, so the boundaries can be adjusted to
more fairly represent a split of seven Council districts.
Airport Issues
Deputy City Manager Peggy Ducey reported that the City is at a critical
juncture in the El Toro Re -use process — the final stretch of the master
planning for El Toro airport, completion of the environmental review, three
very strong airport supporters on the Board of Supervisors, and airport
opponents have not been able to be victorious on any of the major battles
they have wagered and over the last two weeks have drastically changed
their direction on the issue of the Millennium Plan. Staff is now seeing some
concrete results from the work that has been done over the past year to
broaden the support base outside of Newport Beach and that is shown in the
coming together of the Orange County Airport Alliance that includes the
airport proponents. There has also been success in bringing cities on board
with OCRAA — the City of Tustin is scheduled to vote on Monday and there
are a number of other cities considering placing it on their agendas within
the next two months. Where the City is today is a very different situation
than a year ago and today staff needs direction from the City Council as to
where to go from here. The draft report distributed to Council was
developed between Mr. Burnham and herself as a result of the discussions
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that happened at the study session a week earlier. She said it was evident to
both of them that the Council needed a better understanding of the Orange
County Alliance, how it would be structured and how it was anticipated that
funds would be used. Staff put that information together for the Council
strictly based on best -guess estimates because ultimately the Board of
Directors of the Alliance will be deciding on budget, staffing, etc., therefore
she cautioned everyone that these proposals have not been seen by the
Board of Directors and she can't commit any of this for them. The structure
of the Alliance will have a Board of Directors made up of four to five key
people that are involved in this organization. The reason for the number is
to have a small streamlined board that can make decisions quickly, won't
have a problem getting a quorum, and will operate efficiently and effectively.
The Board of Directors will set oversight and policy and make financial
decisions for the Alliance as a whole. Coordinating with that Board of
Directors and structurally underneath the Board, is an executive committee
that is made up of various sectors of the County that have not in the past
been tapped through the airport issue. There are commitments from three
people at this point — a south county former elected official, a female Tustin
business owner and a Santa Ana School Board president, and hopefully a
labor representative and a commercial airline pilot will be added to the
group. The executive committee would act as an advisory board to the Board
of Directors on overall or general policy decisions, but the Board of Directors
would be the organization that sets policy. In terms of roles, it is envisioned
that the Alliance will operate at two different levels. At one level it would
operate as a separate organization that would publish mailers under its own
name, sponsor the website, sponsor the video, but also under the Alliance,
activities of each individual organization would be coordinated. Staffing has
not been determined since the Board has not discussed that, however Hill
and Knowlton have been working with the board, as well as staff. She said
she would expect that staff of each of the individual organizations would be
involved as well. As far as her status and how she would dovetail with the
Allhance, she indicated that that question has to go through two separate
bodies. The City Council would need to determine if they want her to
continue with the Alliance and then the Alliance Board of Directors would
have to want her to continue with them. She said staff recommends that the
Council appoint one of its members as a member to the Orange County
Airport Alliance, that $350,000 in matching funds be committed to the
Alliance, the concept of direct funding of the Airport Working Group be
approved pending a detailed program plan and then formation of a Council
ad hoc committee to review the status of consultants, as well as other terms
and conditions for funding and return to the City Council with
recommendations.
Council Member Adams said he thinks the Council needs to decide whether
the City wants to offer up either a half of a full -time equivalent (FTE) or a
quarter full -time equivalent or some staffing help to the Alliance. The
assignment itself should be up to the City Manager since the Council only
hires the City Manager, the City Attorney and the City Clerk and it isn't the
Council's job to be hiring somebody to assign to the Alliance.
Council Member Ridgeway concurred and stated that the City Council is not
the best repository for personnel decisions, although they can give some
direction. He said he feels there is a larger issue with the Alliance and that
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FIFRONR
is one of oversight and accountability. The City will be making a large
investment in this organization and by definition will not have oversight and
accountability, however it would be incumbent if the City moves forward to
at least have reasonable expectations of the Alliance and where they are
headed. Those expectations need to be spelled out since the City may be
making a substantial contribution of money to this group.
Council Member Glover pointed out that this is only one facet of the airport
strategy. She voiced concerns about focusing on only one group since the
City has worked with other groups and had great success with them. She
concurred with Council Member Adams about the staffing issues and said it
in inappropriate for a staff person to lobby her for a job because the only
people that report directly to the City Council are the City Manager, the City
Attorney and the City Clerk.
Council Member Adams stated that he would be supportive of Ms. Ducey if
the City decides to have her as that person.
Mr. Burnham stated that assuming that the Council wants to go forward
and participate with the Alliance, it is important for those representatives to
express to the Alliance the City's expectations and a primary expectation is
that the Alliance focus its efforts in those segments of the population and
organizations where other pro airport groups, such as CJ &E (Citizens for
Jobs and the Economy) have not traditionally been active or for political or
other reasons have some difficulty in generating support. He said that he
has heard, though not first -hand, that CJ &E is not opposed to the concept of
the Alliance, however there is some concern that the Alliance would engage
in activities similar to those that CJ &E might engage in or that the Alliance
may tap resources that CJ &E might otherwise attempt to tap. That is why
it is important for the Alliance to focus its activities on areas that would not
interfere with or impede CJ &E in doing what it may believe is appropriate.
Mayor O'Neil concurred with Council Member Glover that the Alliance is
part of the group of pro- airport entities that are important, but it won't take
the place of AWG, CJ &E, Orange County Business Council, or any of the
other pro - airport organizations. He said he believes the City would be able
to fund the Alliance, as well as fund efforts on the part of AWG or the
Orange County Business Council, if the Council saw fit. He concurred that it
is not appropriate for the City to be funding the activities of organizations
without some kind of oversight, therefore the City will need to have some
kind of board membership, approval authority of how the money is going to
be spent, or maybe the money would be phased over to them. He noted that
staffs recommendation is that an ad hoc committee be formed to find out
how to deal with the consultant team the City currently has in place who
should probably now be retained by the Alliance, the office space and the
equipment, etc. He said he thinks the concept of an Alliance is good because
it takes Newport Beach out of the forefront since it is a regional issue. He
also said that Ms. Ducey's role also needs to be defined, whether it is still
related to the airport, or in another role. He noted that the Council needs to
discuss the settlement agreement with John Wayne, since it is a local issue
and one that will be more significant as it gets closer to the December 31,
2005 expiration date.
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Council Member Adams said he thinks that if the City joins the Alliance and
has a member on board, that that member should come back to the Council
with a request for funding after that member has a formal position on the
board and understands the budget and the vision, etc. With regard to the
City's expectations, he asked whether there is a written memorandum of
understanding with the Alliance, or a formal contract or written document
with them that provides the expectations in writing.
Mr. Burnham explained that the City will need to adopt a resolution
designating one of the Council Members as the person to sit on the Board.
He said at this time no formal documents exist, however it would be
appropriate for staff to direct a motion that would include the City's
expectations, as well as make the appointment.
Mayor Pro Tem Thomson voiced concern about having fourteen or fifteen
cities involved and having 4 -7 members on the executive board and
questioned how that would be fair to the cities not involved. He also noted
that the Alliance would not be focusing on John Wayne and the Council
needs to redirect and refocus its own efforts on keeping the cap on John
Wayne.
Ms. Ducey explained that initially staff envisioned that the airport authority
would become the strong advocate for the airport, but also acknowledged the
need to increase the membership from the eight cities that have been
involved for a long period of time to a more broad based support. The
organization has evolved and will fulfill a different role than what was
initially envisioned as a strong advocate. The focus was to create a truly pro -
airport organization that could go out and take the hard - hitting actions that
have been advocated for. Only the City of Anaheim and the City of Los
Alamitos will be represented on the Board. OCRAA, as the membership is
expanded, will become a vehicle where accurate information can be reviewed
and disseminated to those cities through their own communication channels.
She said she sees two very different roles. One is the very strong advocacy
role that the Council has always advocated for, and the other is accurate
information, which points to an airport at El Toro as the best use.
Council Member Glover said she feels the pro - airport movement is maturing
and has matured beyond Newport Beach and therefore it would be an
appropriate time to let the region take the leadership on this issue and for
the City to do their part along with the north county allies or people who
have the same sentiments. She said the point has been reached where the
City can now feel more comfortable with the rest of the County taking the
leadership role in this and the City can on parallel tracks be involved in the
regional movement for El Toro, but also be working on the John Wayne
settlement. She spoke in support of the City doing whatever can be done to
further regional involvement with the City being one of many players.
Regarding the settlement agreement, Mr. Burnham stated that he has three
assumptions that are the premise of the John Wayne settlement agreement
extension proposal. Those assumptions are: 1) it is a backup plan if there is
no commercial aviation re -use at El Toro — if there is a fatal flaw with El
Toro then this would be ready or if for some reason El Toro is not converted;
2) the efforts relative to the John Wayne Airport settlement agreement
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extension would compliment the City's efforts and the efforts of the Alliance
relative to El Toro — it wouldn't conflict with it; and 3) it has to be recognized
that there is some reluctance on the part of the County to enter into any
hard negotiations at this point in time regarding the settlement agreement
extension while they are looking at the alternative of serving a substantial
portion of the air cargo and air passenger demand at El Toro. After
considerable discussion about the approaches to use to negotiate with the
County and the County's stance on this, Mr. Burnham stated that there is no
settlement agreement extension that can be put in concrete and the only way
to really insure that there isn't an expansion of John Wayne Airport is a
commercial aviation re -use at El Toro. A settlement agreement extension is
a good level of protection in the event that doesn't occur, however it isn't
guaranteed. Whatever any airport community or proprietor does, as was
seen in 1990, is subject to federal action. Congress passed the Airport Noise
and Capacity Act (ANCA) which prohibits, without FAA approval, noise or
access restrictions on stage 3 aircraft and the settlement agreement is both a
noise and an access restriction on stage 3 aircraft, which is the only type of
aircraft that operate at JWA. The County and the City fought very hard to
grandfather the settlement agreement from the impact of ANCA and one of
the issues that is being discussed with special airport counsel for the County,
is does the City have to take a settlement agreement extension to the FAA
and if so, what standards would the FAA apply in looking at that agreement.
He noted that in the past when the City has worked on settlement
agreement issues it has been Newport Beach and the County and what he
has heard from a number of Council Members and the community is that it
would be a good thing if in pursuing an extension of the settlement
agreement, other communities that are impacted by JWA were brought in
and AWG used as a vehicle for dealing with community organizations in
those communities (Tustin, Orange, Villa Park, Santa Ana, Costa Mesa).
Instead of the settlement agreement issue being just a Newport Beach issue
it is broadened to include the entire JWA corridor. He said that given the
fact that the City has been in a very cooperative mode with the County on
aviation issues over the years, this is a good time to at least initiate
discussions with County personnel about how a settlement agreement
extension might work so that the groundwork is laid for a decision to do that,
if the need arises. Council Member Noyes spoke in support of taking a very
aggressive stance on the airport settlement agreement. Mr. Burnham said
that in his mind he has always used 2001 as the date on which some good
foundation for a settlement agreement extension needs to be laid, because
that is the point at which the County absent El Toro would start looking at
master planning John Wayne Airport. Once that master plan process is
underway, it would be more difficult to accomplish what the City wants. The
City of Irvine would be a community the City would approach on a
settlement agreement extension partly because there is the potential if there
is an expanded JWA that it would impact the City of Irvine more than El
Toro would impact them.
Mayor O'Neil appointed Council Member Glover as the Chair of the Aviation
Committee, Council Member Adams as the representative to OCRAA, and
himself as the representative to the Measure A Citizens Advisory
Committee, as an ad hoc committee to meet with appropriate staff to
determine how the City proceeds with the consultants, the office space and
those types of issues, based on the assumption that the City participates in
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the Alliance.
Motion by Council Member Adams to approve the City's participation in the
Alliance and to direct staff to draft a resolution for the formal appointment
of the City's representative to the Alliance that would include the City's
expectations of the Alliance and the understanding of the City's
participation.
Charles Griffin stated that oversight needs to be provided not only in
promoting the airport, but also in what is being promoted — the design. He
spoke in support of a modern airport that complies with the FAA regulations
of widely separated, maybe non - parallel runways. He said that perhaps the
consultants are not necessarily sensitive to the impacts on south county. In
order to be consistent with these groups, it is necessary to provide an airport
that they can also support:
Mr. Burnham reported that he met with Mr. Griffin and he answered a lot of
the questions about his alternative plan and he intends to speak with special
counsel in the program office to make sure they are taking a very hard look
at Mr. Griffin's suggestions.
Without objection, the motion carried.
4. LUNCH BREAK
The Council recessed for lunch at 11:40 a.m. and reconvened at 12:30 p.m. with all
members present.
5. DISTRICT GOALS
District 7
Mayor Pro Tem Thomson identified and explained the following goals for
District 7:
• The San Joaquin Reservoir — MWD and IRWD's desire to convert the
reservoir into a reservoir for recycled water and the need to have it
aerated if this is done. He said the City needs to work on a deal to
have them install water lines to the adjacent community associations
for the greenbelts and City parks in that area.
• Commuter traffic in Corona del Mar — There is a need to work on
signage consistent with Caltrans normal signage indicating a free
bypass road. He addressed concerns with the speed of cars on San
Joaquin, as well as the volume of traffic.
• High intensity lights for crosswalks near schools and parks, such as
corner of Crown and San Joaquin.
• Pump noise emanating from Big Canyon Reservoir.
• Noise mitigation issue on MacArthur Road.
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F17flsTDRq
• Creation of a central park in area behind the library.
• District 6
Mayor O'Neil identified and explained the following goals for District 6:
• Preferential residential parking in old Corona del Mar.
• Little Corona Tidelands.
• Replacement of ficus trees along Pacific Coast Highway with King
Palms and Hong Kong orchids.
• The Corona del Mar Residents Association developed a list of issues
to be considered by Council, however it will be brought back at some
time in the future. He said there are concerns regarding signs and
also noted that at one time the City had a landscape architect on
staff, which could benefit the City.
• District 5
Council Member Noyes identified and explained the following goals for
District 5:
• Finish retrofit of the Balboa Island Bridge, including the
construction of the additional walkways.
• Reconstruction of the public restroom at the Balboa Island side of the
ferry landing.
• Formally request The Irvine Company to advise the City on the
future buildout plans for Newport Center.
Motion by Council Member Noves to write a letter to The Irvine
Company requesting that they advise the City of their plans at a
future study session. Without objection, the motion carried by
acclamation.
• Create an ad hoc committee to look at TOT /timeshare uses in the
City. Mayor O'Neil said this should be put on a future agenda with a
resolution to establish the committee and the assignment of the
committee members.
• District 4
Council Member Adams identified and explained the following goals for
District 4:
• John Wayne Settlement Agreement.
• Back Bay issues — long term dredging cycle and funding.
• Resolution of the treated water outfall issue in the Back Bay.
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• Examination of the appropriateness of a specific plan for the airport
area.
As far as smaller and more specific issues, Council Member Adams identified
and explained the following:
• Closure on the Bison/Jamboree traffic issues.
• High school traffic issue — status of the free right turn lane project.
• Outstanding lighting issues at the Fletcher Jones dealership. A
future issue that may come before Council is the possibility of the
dealership constructing an auxiliary parking lot under the freeway
and also getting entitlement for their planned restaurant. He also
addressed the proposed landscaping issues and reaching closure and
completion on that issue.
• A uniform guide signage program in the City with decorative signs in
specific areas.
• Regular reporting from City Council members that serve on
committees.
• District 3
Council Member Glover identified and explained the following goals for
District 3:
• Underground all utilities.
• Plant more trees and stop destruction of trees.
• Address traffic from downtown Costa Mesa.
• Support the Environmental Nature Center.
• Keep Castaways Park as a natural park.
• Mariners Mile (adopt design framework, get median grassed, and
keep clean with trash pick -up on sidewalks).
• Begin flag program on bridges.
• Start Balboa Bay Club project.
• Develop Horwin property.
• Develop Ardell property.
• Community Center or meeting rooms for the community.
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January 30, 1999
1 � /
• District 2
Council Member Debay identified and explained the following goals for
District 2:
• Undergrounding project for West Newport along Seashore and
around the Lido Sands area
• Caltrans West Park (Sunset Ridge).
• 1911, Street bridge.
• Quality of life issues in beach areas.
• Commercial strip on West Coast Highway.
• Taylor Woodrow development — annexation issue.
• Automated trash system in West Newport.
• Streetscape — visioning of undergrounding of wires, street end
projects, etc.
• Spot dredging in back areas — clean up water quality.
• Re- energize community policing program.
• District 1
Council Member Ridgeway identified and explained the following goals for
District 1:
• Balboa Village Area — Incentives for rezoning of properties, city
participation in facade improvements, upgrading of Balboa
Boulevard from Main to Adams (interlock pavers — CDBG).
• Cannery Village — Revisit zoning of PC text (more single family
residential).
• Lido Marina Village — Marina authority, hotel — TOT rebate to entice
hotel — city driven or developer driven, city participation of city
owned land.
Marina Park — Encourage uplands designation and residential use.
• General Plan Update — Land Use Element, Circulation Element and
Housing Element — Affordable.
• Outdoor dining permits (conditions regarding food and alcohol on
city owned property).
• Policy on skateboard parks.
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January 30,1999
Tidelands Administration (new leases vs. permits and Newport Bay
as part of General Plan).
Policy on TOT for 30 days of occupancy.
Balboa Peninsula signs.
PUBLIC COMMENTS
James Turner questioned when the Balboa Island bridge retrofit program would be
complete. He was informed that it is scheduled to be done by the first of June.
Nancy Gardner explained the function of the Newport Bay Watershed Management
Bay Committee.
Jan Vandersloot addressed issues regarding city beautification (landscaping,
undergrounding of utilities), park in open space above Newport Village,
establishment of parking on the peninsula, annexing the upper bay area, CIOSA
negotiations being carried out re: Newport Knoll, and active involvement in the
Orange Coast River Park.
Phil Bettencourt informed the Council that the Building Industry Association and
the Newport Harbor Area Chamber of Commerce can be used as resources for issues
such as TOT and Corona del Mar parking issues.
Val Skoro, Corona del Mar Residents Association and Irvine Terrace Homeowners
Association, reported that their #1 priority is beautification. A big area of concern is
the signs in the City. Other priorities are aesthetics (ugly building designs), the
possibility of hiring a landscape architect and the requirement for landscaping when
new businesses are built, and the redesign of upper bayview (the land at the corner
of Jamboree and Coast Highway) to make it a focal point in the City.
Tom Hyans addressed the General Plan issue and said that the land use element
needs to be updated and the basis for CIOSA needs to be updated.
Charles Griffin spoke in support of undergrounding utilities on Balboa Island and
voiced concerns with the utility lines that cross the tennis courts in Irvine Terrace
Park as well as the high voltage wires on MacArthur Boulevard.
ADJOURNME NT — 1:55 p.m.
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INDEX
City of Newport Beach
City Council Minutes
January 30, 1999
The agenda for the Adjourned Regular Meeting was posted on January 26,
1999, at 5:15 p.m. on the City Hall Bulletin Board located outside of the City
of Newport Beach Administration Building.
City Clerk
x, lrn � 711. bt�
Recording Secretary
Mayor
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INDEX
CITY OF NEWPORT BEACH
City Council Minutes ®����
Adjourned Regular Meeting
February 2, 1999 - 4:30 p.m. INDEX
ROLL CALL
Present: Adams, Glover, Thomson, Debay, Ridgeway, Noyes, Mayor O'Neil
Absent: None
CLOSED SESSION
Adjourned to Closed Session pursuant to Section 54957 of the Government Code to
consider the appointment/employment of a City Manager.
CLOSED SESSION REPORT PRESENTED — None
PUBLIC COMMENTS —None
— 9:30 p.m.
The agenda for the Adjourned Regular Meeting was posted on January 25,
1999, at 9:45 a.m. on the City Hall Bulletin Board located outside of the City
of Newport Beach Administration Building.
City Clerk
Recording Secretary
Mayor
Volume 52 - Page 337
CITY OF NEWPORT BEACH
City Council Minutes DRAFT
Study Session
February 8, 1999 - 4:00 p.m. INDEX
ROLL CALL
Present: Adams, Glover, Thomson, Ridgeway, Noyes (arrived at 4:10 p.m.),
Mayor O'Neil
Absent: Debay (excused)
CURRENT BUSINESS
1. CLARIFICATION OF ITEMS ON THE EVENING AGENDA.
Regarding Item 4, 1999 Local Coastal Program Planning Grant Application,
Council Member Ridgeway asked if the grant request could be made for a
sum larger than the $407,135. Planning Director Temple stated that there is
a total of $500,000 available on a statewide basis and that the City put
together a comprehensive certification work program with the costs
identified. She added that one of the criteria of the application is that the
City provide a local match.
Regarding Item 5, Amendment to the Newport Place Planned Community
District, Council Member Gary Adams asked if Footnote 29 was site specific.
Planning Director Temple stated that this particular planned community
text does have many special criteria and development standards established
for particular development sites or land uses. Council Member Adams
confirmed that Footnote 29(g) addressed the decrease in the setback for the
Spruce side of the property. Planning Director Temple stated that Footnote
29(i) is not a change from the original proposal.
Council Member Adams asked how long the residents of the Lido Sands
Association will be required to water the Queen Palm trees as stated in Item
6, River Avenue Street Rehabilitation. Public Works Director Webb stated
that the Lido Sands Association has agreed to water and fertilize the trees
for as long as they're in place, and confirmed that he is confident that they
will do so.
Council Member Adams asked for clarification of Item 8, Acceptance of
Dedications Required with the Approval of Freeway Reservation North
Resubdivision. Public Works Director Webb stated that the parcel is
complicated because it is over a number of places where streets used to be
located. He stated that the parcel map is being prepared to establish the
outer parcel boundaries to allow The Irvine Company to ultimately dedicate
this parcel to the City for park purposes.
Council Member Noyes asked if a competitive bid was received for Item 10,
Tower Replacement and Repair. Fire Marshal Lockard explained why the
replacement towers were necessary and why the funds needed to be
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February 8, 1999
allocated. Acting City Manager Danner stated that for projects below
$30,000, three written quotations are received, but the formal bid process is
not required.
Mayor Pro Tem Thomson corrected the agenda for Item 12, Appointments by
the City Council to the Citizens Advisory Committees, by stating that Judy
Ware is one of his regular appointments to the Environmental Quality
Affairs Citizens Affairs Committee, not his at -large appointment.
2. INFRASTRUCTURE PLANNING.
Public Works Director Webb stated that the staff report attempts to list all of
the City's different infrastructure pieces. He stated that the funding
programs for each of the areas is also presented.
Public Works Director Webb then referred to the report and outlined the
various infrastructure items: streets and highways master plan; pavement
management plan for the streets; alley reconstruction; sidewalks, curbs and
gutters; water system master plan; wastewater master plan; storm drain
master plan; traffic signals; street light replacement and upgrades; and
parks, medians and parkway trees.
Public Works Director Webb went on to discuss major structure
refurbishment and replacement issues which included City buildings such as
the City Hall complex, the libraries, general services yard, police station, fire
stations and lifeguard facility, the park, theater arts and community youth
center buildings and the public restrooms. He stated that major structure
refurbishment and replacement also includes the ocean and harbor facilities
and bridges.
Public Works Director Webb continued his outline by stating that dredging
and sand replenishment is also included in the list of the City's
infrastructure pieces. He noted that other areas to be considered in
infrastructure planning include: signage; emergency response program
emergency repairs; oil field operation; quality of life; village revitalization;
open space planning; beautification and fiscal planning.
Public Works Director Webb then handed out a chart, 1999 Infrastructure
Planning Projected Annual Costa, and stated that it illustrates the annual
average spent in the past four years on each of the infrastructure areas, as
well as the projected needs. He stated that an average annual total of nearly
$15 million has been spent, while approximately $11 million is needed in the
upcoming year. He stated that part of the reason for the average being
higher than the projected is due to the large projects over the past four
years, which included the groundwater development, Arches interchange
and MacArthur Boulevard projects.
In response to Council Member Ridgeway's question, Public Works Director
Webb stated that the projected costs listed in the chart correspond with the
desired annual programs presented in the staff report.
Council Member Ridgeway specifically asked about programs for the Balboa
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February 8, 1999
INDEX
Peninsula. Public Works Director Webb confirmed for him that the storm
drain master plan includes both underground and surface projects, and that
the streets will continue to flood during periods of high tides and heavy rains
due to the natural drainage flow.
Council Member Ridgeway asked about the alleyways on the Peninsula and
whether they would be reconstructed of concrete or asphalt. Public Works
Director Webb stated that alleys of fifteen feet or greater width are generally
made of asphalt. Council Member Ridgeway stated his concern is that some
of the asphalt alleys in the area have no concrete ribbon to assist in water
flow and he'd like any reconstruction to take flow direction into
consideration.
Council Member Ridgeway lastly requested that the next budget cycle
include funds to rehabilitate the signs in the City.
Council Member Noyes requested that Public Works Director Webb check
whether Upper Castaways Park stayed within budget or if there is a surplus
available.
Council Member Noyes asked Public Works Director Webb for clarification
on a few items listed in an expenditure status report, the amounts spent to
date and some of the notations made.
Council Member Noyes asked about the feasibility of the City purchasing a
dredge for such things as the channel dredging project, or other specific
areas. Council Member Ridgeway asked the same about the sand
replenishment projects. Public Works Director Webb stated that the matter
could be looked into, but that such equipment would probably need to be
used regularly to justify the expense.
Council Member Glover inquired about the dirt alleys in her district and the
new homes being built in the area. Public Works Director Webb stated that
the policy requires newly constructed alleys to be paid for by the property
owner. He said that 75 to 80% of the alleys in her district were originally
constructed with assessment district funds.
Council Member Glover suggested that the oil field operations be shut down
since more money is being spent than earned, but that she will await the
sub - committee's recommendation.
Council Member Glover asked if Bluff Road as referenced in the chart in the
staff report, Major Projects from 7 -Year Highway Master Plan, was intended
to go from 19th Street to Coast Highway. Public Works Director Webb stated
that the Master Plan would have it do so, but that the primary costs would
be developer costs. He further confirmed that the 17th Street project, from
Bluff Road to the easterly City limits, would also be a part of the
development process.
Council Member Glover requested that Public Works Director Webb check on
the extension of the 22- Freeway and if it would be going to just the 405 -
Freeway or on down to Coast Highway.
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February 8, 1999
In response to Council Member Glovers inquiries regarding the West Coast
Widening project, Public Works Director Webb stated that the master plan
shows that eight lanes are needed, which would be one additional lane to
what currently exists. He stated that creative lane striping would have to be
done over the bridge and that some land would need to be acquired.
Council Member Noyes expressed his concern over the addition of a lane and
the tapering that would have to occur. Public Works Director Webb stated
that the seven -year plan provides the numbers and requirements of the
circulation element, but not the specifics on how those needs will be met.
Mayor O'Neil suggested that the Infrastructure Planning report be updated
on a quarterly basis.
3. UPDATE ON NEWPORT VILLAGE SENIOR AFFORDABLE
HOUSING PROJECT, AND AFFORDABLE HOUSING
REQUIREMENTS OF THE IRVINE COMPANY AND FORD MOTOR
LAND DEVELOPMENT CORPORATION.
Assistant City Manager Wood stated that Council Member Ridgeway
requested the report. She stated that the City Council Newport Center
Economic Opportunities Committee had been working with The Irvine
Company on a senior affordable housing project for the Newport Village site,
but that the negotiations were not concluded.
Assistant City Manager Wood stated that the Newport Village site is
designated in the Circulation Improvement and Open Space Agreement
( CIOSA) as an open space site that The Irvine Company was required to
dedicate to the City. She stated that this was done last month. Further,
CIOSA also provides that the Newport Village site may be used for senior
affordable housing if the City and The Irvine Company agree.
Assistant City Manager Wood stated that the uses for the money received
through the Ford Development Agreement include developing a senior
affordable housing site, or rehabilitating existing apartment projects,
converting existing mobile home parks or extending the covenants in place
for several apartments in the City.
Council Member Noyes inquired about the process of changing an affordable
unit to a market rate unit. Assistant City Manager Wood stated that the
covenants in place in Newport Beach have been in existence for ten to thirty
years and that, oftentimes, the affordable units are alongside and among
market rate units. She cited Big Canyon as an example.
Assistant City Manager Wood answered Council Member Ridgeway's
question about Big Canyon by stating that the authority to include
affordable housing in the project was probably due to implementation of the
Housing Element policy. She stated that the Planning Commission sets a
percentage, usually 20% of an approved project, which must be affordable
housing.
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Housing /Affordable
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February 8, 1999
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Council Member Ridgeway asked about the covenant time period and how
that is determined. Assistant City Manager Wood stated that the time
period is set in each project's agreement. She further responded that 225
apartment covenants expire this year, and that extending their time period
is one use of the Ford money, as stated previously.
Council Member Ridgeway inquired about the requirement of The Irvine
Company to provide 172 affordable housing units, as stated in the staff
report. Assistant City Manager Wood stated that affordable housing
requirements and Housing Elements are requirements of the State. She
further responded that affordable housing is not required on just new
development. She stated that replacement needs, vacancy factors, and
growth and employment are also considered in the calculations, and that the
Housing Element must incorporate the needs of the region as determined by
the Council of Governments (COG).
Assistant City Manager Wood confirmed for Council Member Ridgeway that
the Newport Coast area, similarly, would have had affordable housing
components through the County's Housing Element. She stated that she
believes the County also uses an inclusionary program, such as Newport
Beach does, meaning that the developers have to include a certain
percentage of affordable housing in their developments.
When asked by Council Member Ridgeway if the City is deficient in
providing its required affordable housing, Assistant City Manager Wood
stated that the City only has an outstanding obligation by a developer. She
stated that the City is not responsible for developing the units, only a
responsibility to have a program in place to facilitate them. She further
stated that possible outcomes of the development not happening could be a
lawsuit, or if the City's General Plan and Housing Element are found to be
inadequate, the City may no longer be allowed to issue building permits to
developers.
Council Member Noyes asked about the uniformity of the percentages that
are applied to each developer and about a single home being built in the
future, when the City may be built out. Assistant City Manager Wood stated
that the single home could be determined by the City Council, at that time.
She further confirmed for Council Member Noyes that at some point in the
future, when all covenants have expired, the City could end up with no
affordable housing.
Council Member Ridgeway stated that he requested this item be brought to
the City Council for discussion, and referenced his land use background. He
feels that the Newport Village site could be developed with everyone's
thoughts and needs in mind, and that it is an excellent site for senior
affordable housing. He disagrees that a passive park would be the best use
of the site. He further feels that the views from southbound MacArthur
Boulevard could be maintained with a senior affordable housing project. He
also feels that some of the library's future needs could be accommodated.
Council Member Ridgeway referenced a letter from Thomas Ashley,
Planning Commissioner, which included the benefits of senior affordable
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City of Newport Beach
City Council Minutes
February 8, 1999
u7
housing at the Newport Village site. The letter cited the many services in
close proximity to the site that would be utilized by senior citizens. Council
Member Ridgeway concluded that he couldn't think of a better site in
Southern California for senior affordable housing than the Newport Village
site.
Mayor Pro Tem Thomson confirmed with Assistant City Manager Wood that
The Irvine Company's requirement to create affordable housing did not
require that it be senior housing, that it could occur anywhere in the City
and that there were alternatives to building brand new units.
Assistant City Manager Wood went on to explain the criteria for who's
allowed to lease affordable units. She stated that the criteria is set by State
law and based on income. She stated that there are three income categories
for which affordable housing is provided: very low income which is 50% of
the median income, lower income which is 80% of the median, and moderate
which is 120% of the median. She stated that the annual median income for
a four - person household in Orange County in 1998 was $65,800.
Mayor Pro Tem Thomson stated that he researched the topic at the library
and found out that the formula also includes the assets available to the
individual. He stated that a new senior affordable housing complex could be
built anywhere in the City. Assistant City Manager Wood stated that the
City establishes the selection procedure as part of the agreement with the
developer.
Mayor Pro Tem Thomson stated that the argument that the Newport Village
site is not suitable for a park due to its proximity to busy streets should also
be true of a senior housing project on the site. He stated that the walks to
the nearby services are long walks, and that his preference would be to
rehabilitate an existing building in the City and maintain the Newport
Village site as open space.
Mayor Pro Tem Thomson stated that the return to the City on the rental of
the property, if a developer were allowed to build affordable housing, would
be approximately $1.4 million over a fifty -year period, and not a good value
for the site. He presented a Newport Central Park Concept and pointed out
some of the details of the site. He expressed his appreciation for the view
available from the site's bluff and that the bluff area should remain
untouched. He said the water table in the area is high and if a building were
to be built on the site, this would have to be taken into consideration.
Mayor Pro Tem Thomson concluded by stating that he agrees that affordable
housing and senior affordable housing is needed in the City, but he doesn't
think the prime piece of property in the City needs to be used for that
purpose.
Don Beebe, Lindo Avenue resident, stated that his grandparents were
farmers in the area in the early 1900's, and that he's heard a lot of stories of
how the area used to be. He feels that open space is a necessity for quality of
life. He supports the open space alternative for the Newport Village site and
thanked Mayor Pro Tem Thomson for proposing it. Mr. Beebe is certain that
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City Council Minutes
February 5,1999
INDEX
The Irvine Company will meet their commitment in another location.
H. Ross Miller, Advocacy Chairman for Friends of Oasis, thanked Council
Member Ridgeway for trying to revitalize the effort of constructing senior
affordable housing at the Newport Village site. He knows of the concerns of
the library, the environmentalists and the nearby residents. He stated that
Friends of Oasis does not feel that this site is suitable for a tranquil park
because it's surrounded by busy streets. Mr. Miller said that there is a great
need for senior affordable housing in Newport Beach.
Jon Robertson, 2509 Harbor View Drive, complimented Mayor Pro Tern
Thomson for his great vision of the future of the City. Mr. Robertson stated
that his home is about the same distance from MacArthur Boulevard as the
site, and he feels that he can fully enjoy the view from his backyard without
disruption from noise. He feels that the park proposal makes the most sense
for the community at-large and that there isn't another site with such views
that could be put to use so affordably.
Elaine Linhoff, 1760 E. Ocean Blvd., complained that she couldn't hear
Assistant City Manager Wood's comments earlier. Ms. Linhoff went on to
say that she agrees with Mayor Pro Tern Thomson's proposal. She said that
she prefers to leave the site as is, but she likes some of the things he is
including. She feels that the site provides the most spectacular view in the
City and should be made available for everyone to enjoy. She said she's a
senior herself, and she feels that the Bayview Landing site is a much better
site for senior affordable housing because it's a flatter site.
Dr. Jan Vandersloot, 2221 16th Street, commended Mayor Pro Tern Thomson
for his idea. Dr. Vandersloot stated that he is in support of this park because
it combines the views of the area with an appreciation for the environmental
sensitivity of the site. He listed some of the environmental assets of the site.
He stated that noise is not a problem at the site. Dr. Vandersloot suggested
that the Ford money be used to extend the covenants as discussed earlier in
the evening. Dr. Vandersloot also spoke in support of senior affordable
housing at the Bayview Landing site.
Elizabeth Stahr, 4639 Roxbury Road, stated that she has been involved with
the library for several years. She stated that her primary concern for
placing senior housing at the Newport Village site is the traffic in the area.
She feels that the area is too dangerous to have seniors walking to the
services in the area, and that more pedestrians will only add to the traffic
congestion that already exists. She feels that the other alternatives for
senior affordable housing should be pursued, and that this site should be left
as open space. She also stated that the library needs more parking.
Ernest Bastien, 1215 Surfline Way, stated that the reason the site was
dedicated as open space, in the first place, was because of the over - building
in the area. He sees two alternatives for the site: leave it as open space or
build on it. He thinks the decision to leave the site as open space would
enhance Newport Beach and represent the image that Newport Beach is a
beautiful place.
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City Council Minutes
February 8, 1999
INDEX
Jim Warren, 1201 Surfline Way, stated that he has lived at this address for
thirty years and has been heavily involved in development of the site. He
said the people in his neighborhood have always wanted a park or for the
site to remain as open space. Mr. Warren stated that Mayor Pro Tem
Thomson covered many of the topics that have been discussed over the years.
He knows that affordable housing is a problem in the area, but thinks there
are alternative sites.
Mayor O'Neil clarified that there is no project currently before the City
Council and that no decision will be made at the current meeting. He
wanted to let the audience know that the City Council is not close to making
a decision, but that the input is good to hear.
Claudia Owen, a Bluffs resident, stated that housing can really go anywhere
but open spaces are harder to come by.
Mayor O'Neil stated that the concept of senior affordable housing could
incorporate a mixed use of the site.
Lucille Kuehn, 1831 Seadrift Drive, stated that she has lived at this address
for over forty years. She stated that she is pro senior services and has
served on the advisory board for Oasis Senior Center. She said that when
she was on the City Council, they secured the Housing & Urban
Development Block Grant that provided the land for Oasis. She stated that
she is also actively involved with the library and wants Council Member
Ridgeway to understand the history of past decisions made in the City. She
concluded by stating that the view should be maintained since it is an
irreplaceable asset.
Jim Wood, Chairman of the Library Board of Trustees, stated that he is a
member of an exploratory committee that is looking into an annex to the
library that would house an auditorium. He stated that the annex might
also include a small gallery, a reception hall and possibly a garden and an
amphitheater. He stated that the annex is in the concept stage only, but
that an area close to the library is desired.
Carol Hoffman, The Irvine Company, stated that it is important to recognize
that the Housing Element and State law are guidelines only, and provide
direction to cities and counties in providing affordable housing. She stated
that The Irvine Company worked with a committee for two years to help
meet the objective of balancing The Irvine Company's requirement to
provide affordable housing while presenting projects that would be of
interest to the City. She stated that the committee never completed its
objective but that The Irvine Company fulfilled its CIOSA requirement by
dedicating the Newport Village site to the City on January 25, 1999.
Carol Hoffman also responded to some earlier comments. She stated that
when development for Newport Coast was approved, the affordable housing
requirement was removed from the Coastal Act, so no mandatory
requirement was in place. She stated that the requirement was voluntary
and they met that obligation through an affordable housing implementation
plan with the County, which was only a five -year requirement. She said that
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February S, 1999
The Irvine Company will continue to cooperate with the City.
Council Member Noyes stated that he sees five options for the site:
affordable senior housing, a park, library use, mixed use or leaving it alone.
He feels that all the options should be looked at and discussed before a
decision is made.
Council Member Glover stated that she feels it's a wonderful piece of
property and should remain as open space. She said that her district does
not include a lot of open space and reminded the Corona del Mar residents
that once you build on land, it is not returned to open space.
Council Member Ridgeway stated that he respected the opinions presented
at the meeting and confirmed that he doesn't want to remove the view seen
when traveling southbound on MacArthur Boulevard. He stated that the
City has only accepted the dedication of the land and that there is much
discussion that will take place regarding the use of the site. He knows the
City has a senior affordable housing need.
S4. ALTERNATIVE USES FOR THE NEWPORT VILLAGE SITE
(NEWPORT CENTRAL PARK) [Discussed concurrently with Item
#3].
PUBLIC COMMENTS - None
ADJOURNMENT - 6:00 p.m.
The agenda for the Study Session was posted on February 3, 1999, at
3:15 p.m. on the City Hall Bulletin Board located outside of the City of
Newport Beach Administration Building. The supplemental agenda for the
Study Session was posted on February 5, 1999, at 3:15 p.m. on the City Hall
Bulletin Board located outside of the City of Newport Beach
Administration Building.
City Clerk
Recording Secretary
Mayor
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INDEX
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Site Use
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CITY OF NEWPORT BEACH
City Council Minutes DRAFT
Regular Meeting
February 8, 1999 - 7:00 p.m. INDEX
STUDY SESSION — 4:00 p.m. [Refer to separate minutes]
CLOSED SESSION - None
CLOSED SESSION REPORT PRESENTED - None
RECESSED AND RECONVENED AT 7:00 P.M. FOR REGULAR MEETIN G
ROLL CALL
Present: Adams, Glover, Thomson, Ridgeway, Noyes, Mayor O'Neil
Absent: Debay (excused)
Pledge of Allegiance - Mayor Pro Tem Thomson.
Invocation by Reverend Vincent Gilmore of Our Lady Queen of Angels
Church.
Presentation by Okazaki Sister City. Wendell Fish, President Emeritus of the
Newport Beach Sister City Association, stated that the City of Okazaki holds an
annual essay contest in which the winners receive a week vacation in the United
States. This year's winners were Yuriko Endo, Yuko Kawai, Fumitaka Kawada,
Shiro Kodaira, Hiromori Mute, Sigeo Suzuki, and Mayumi Takahashi. Mayor O'Neil
presented each of them with a Newport Beach bag, mug, and brochure. They also
presented Mayor O'Neil with a gift and letters from the Mayor of Okazaki.
MATTERS WHICH CO LACED ON A
FUTURE AGENDA FOR DISCUSSION. ACTION OR REPORT (NON -
DISCUSSION ITEM):
• Council Member Noyes apologized for the loud fireworks display at the Dunes
last night and reported that the Dunes indicated that they will not ask for
another private party fireworks permit again even though this party met the
permit requirements.
• Council Member Noyes requested that a report be brought back in two weeks on
the feasibility of renovating the restroom on the Balboa Island side of the ferry
landing.
• Council Member Noyes requested a feasibility study of in -house dredging of hot
spots.
• Council Member Noyes requested an inventory of the affordable housing in the
City and the terms of the agreements.
• Council Member Noyes requested that a discussion take place on
timeshare /transient occupancy tax issues and that Council look at the ordinance
Volume 52 - Page 347
City of Newport Beach
City Council Minutes
February 8, 1999
regarding the 30 day issue.
• Noting that the Bison/Jamboree traffic issue is in his district, Council Member
Adams requested that the February 16 meeting be postponed as he will not be
able to attend. He noted that he is working with the residents in the area and
will suggest another date at the February 22 meeting.
CONSENT CALENDAR
READING OF MINUTES /ORDINANCES AND RESOLUTIONS
1. MINUTES OF THE STUDY SESSION AND REGULAR MEETING OF
JANUARY 25, 1999 AND ADJOURNED REGULAR MEETING OF
JANUARY 29, 1999. Waive reading of subject minutes, approve as written
and order filed.
READING OF ORDINANCES AND
full of all ordinances and resolutions
Clerk to read by title only.
RESOLUTIONS FOR ADOPTION
RESOLUTIONS. Waive reading in
under consideration, and direct City
3. Removed from the consent calendar at the request of Council
Member Glover.
4. 1999 LOCAL COASTAL PROGRAM PLANNING GRANT
APPLICATION (contd. from 1/11/99 and 1/25/99). Adopt Resolution
No. 99 -8, authorizing the City Manager to submit an application for grant
funding to complete certification of the Newport Beach Local Coastal
Program.
ORDINANCE FOR ADOPTION
5. AMENDMENT TO THE NEWPORT PLACE PLANNED COMMUNITY
DISTRICT TO ESTABLISH THE PERMITTED GROSS FLOOR AREA
FOR NEWPORT PLACE BLOCK 1 AT 378,713 SQUARE FEET
(PLANNING COMMISSION AMENDMENT NO. 880) - PROPERTY
LOCATED AT 1301 QUAIL STREET AND 1001 QUAIL STREET. Adopt
Ordinance No. 99 -4.
CONTRACTS AND AGREEMENTS
6. COMPLETION AND ACCEPTANCE OF THE RIVER AVENUE
STREET REHABILITATION (C- 3178). Accept the work; authorize the
City Clerk to file a Notice of Completion; authorize the City Clerk to release
the bonds 35 days after the Notice of Completion has been recorded in
accordance with applicable portions of the Civil Code; authorize $15,000.00
from the amount remaining in the River Avenue Street Rehabilitation
Project (Account No. 7013- C5100364), for the purchase and planting of
Queen Palm trees along the south side of River Avenue; and authorize
budget amendment (BA -045) to transfer $9,500.00 from the River Avenue
Reconstruction (Account No. 7013- C5100364) to the Sidewalk, Curb and
Gutter Replacement (Account No. 7013- C5100020).
Volume 52 - Page 348
INDEX
Res 99 -8
Local Coastal
Program Grant
Application
(68)
Ord 99 -4
GPA 98 -1(C)
Newport Place
Planned Community
1301 & 1001 Quail St.
(45)
C -3178
BA -045
River Avenue
Street
Rehabilitation
(40/38)
City of Newport Beach
City Council Minutes
February 8,1999
TERMINATION OF NON - EXCLUSIVE COMMERCIAL SOLID WASTE
FRANCHISE AGREEMENT WITH A- TROJAN DISPOSAL. Adopt
Resolution No. 99 -9 terminating the solid waste franchise agreement
between the City of Newport Beach and A- Trojan Disposal; and approve the
agreement to surrender the franchise agreement between the City of
Newport Beach and A- Trojan Disposal.
MISCELLANEOUS ACTIONS
8. ACCEPTANCE OF DEDICATIONS REQUIRED WITH THE
APPROVAL OF RESU13DRUSION NO. 1051 (FREEWAY
RESERVATION NORTH). Accept the Offer of Dedication of Bonita
Canyon Drive and MacArthur Boulevard as shown on Parcel Map No. 98 -204
(Resubdivision No. 1051); and certify abandonment of easements as noted on
Parcel Map No. 98 -204 (Resubdivision No. 1051) and authorize the City
Clerk to execute the certification.
9. BUDGET AMENDMENT (BA -044) TO APPROPRIATE LIBRARY
GRANT MONEY FROM THE DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION TO
VARIOUS ACCOUNTS IN SUPPORT SERVICES. Approve budget
amendment.
10. TOWER REPLACEMENT AND REPAIR. Approve budget amendment
(BA -046), transferring $34,500 from the General Fund into the Fire and
Marine Department Account, to provide for the replacement of three ocean
front lifeguard towers at $6,500, three bay towers at $2,500 each, and
provide structural repair to 15 towers for $7,500.
Sll. APPOINTMENT OF THOMAS S. ANDERSON AS ALTERNATE TO
THE AVIATION COMMITTEE FOR DISTRICT 3. Confirm
appointment.
Motion by Mayor Pro Tem Thomson to approve the Consent Calendar,
except for the item removed (3).
Without objection, the motion carried by acclamation.
ITEM REMOVED FROM THE CONSENT CALENDAR
3. RESOLUTION NO. 99 -7 JOINING THE EL TORO AIRPORT
ALLIANCE AND DESIGNATING THE MAYOR AS A MEMBER OF
THE ALLIANCE BOARD OF DIRECTORS.
Council Member Glover announced that the City Attorney placed a revised
resolution before Council and proceeded to read the resolution aloud.
Motion_b-y-Council Member Glover to adopt Resolution No. 99-7.
Council Member Ridgeway emphasized that the revised resolution does not
take any financial responsibility but only allows the City to join the Alliance.
Without objection, the motion carried by acclamation.
Volume 52 - Page 349
INDEX
Res 99 -9
Commercial Solid
Waste Collection
Franchise Agr./
A -Trojan
Disposal (42)
Resub 1051
Bonita Canyon
Drive &
MacArthur Blvd./
Freeway
Reservation
North (84)
BA -044
Library Grant
Money
(40/50)
BA -046
Lifeguard Tower
Replacement
(40/51)
Aviation
Committee
(24)
Res 99 -7
El Toro Airport
Alliance (54)
City of Newport Beach
City Council Minutes
February 8, 1999
INDEX
Karen Kopicki, 10 Crest Circle, representing the Canyon Crest Estates
Homeowners, presented Council and the City Clerk with correspondence
expressing their objections to the recent Parks, Beaches and Recreation
Commission (PB &R) decision on two Newport Beach Little League proposals to
expand the facilities and increase the use at the Lincoln Athletic Center. She
stated that they wish to appeal the February 2 PB &R decision and requested
that Council place this issue on a future agenda.
At the request of Council, City Attorney Burnham clarified that this item can be
discussed at a future meeting if the portion in which Council Members raise items to
be placed on a future agenda is reconsidered. He added that his office has done
research and believes there is no appeal process for PB &R decisions specified in the
Municipal Code or Council Policy.
Motion by Council Member Ridgeway to reopen matters which Council
Members would like placed on a future agenda for discussion, action or report (non -
discussion item).
Without objection, the motion carried by acclamation.
Council Member Ridgeway requested that a City Council appeal process be
developed for Parks, Beaches and Recreation Commission decisions; and the hours of
lighting at the Lincoln Athletic Center be brought back at a future meeting.
In response to Ms. Kopicki s concerns, Council Member Ridgeway stated that the
entire contents of her letter will be brought up for future review and that she will be
notified as to when this will happen.
In response to Council Member Glover's question, Mr. Burnham explained that
there is no provision or policy that limits the right of Council to consider public
improvements that have been approved by PB &R. Regarding a timeframe,
Mr. Burnham stated that it also depends on how far along the project has been
implemented. He stated that he assumes that Council Member Ridgeway wants to
establish a category of projects that Council may have the right to review or may
automatically come before Council. Ms. Glover stated that she would like the report
to include whether this is legal for Council and a specified process. She noted that
there is a project in her district that is similar.
Council Member Ridgeway concurred with Mr. Burnham's assumption that the
report should only refer to PB &R decisions since there are specific rules dealing with
the Planning Commission.
Council Member Adams requested that the report address the issue of changes in
policy decisions and establish a timeframe for the appeal.
In response to Council Member Glover's concerns, Mr. Burnham reported that
PB &R acts in an advisory capacity to Council although it plays a role in the
development of park plans and recreational programs. He indicated that he will try
to bring back a draft policy in two weeks that deals with Council's ability to call up a
decision on issues that are not within PB &R's exclusive jurisdiction. He stated that
he would like to discuss the public's due process with Council Member Ridgeway.
Volume 52 - Page 350
City of Newport Beach
City Council Minutes
February S, 1999
11. PUBLIC HEARING ON THE GRANTING OF A NON - EXCLUSIVE
SOLID WASTE COLLECTION FRANCHISE TO AMERICAN
WRECKING, INC. AND WEST COAST LAND CLEARING.
Mayor O'Neil opened the public hearing.
Hearing no further testimony, Mayor O'Neil closed the public hearing.
Motion by Council Member Glover to adopt Ordinance No. 99 -3 granting
a Non - exclusive Solid Waste Franchise to American Wrecking, Inc. and West
Coast Land Clearing.
Without objection, the motion carried by acclamation.
12. APPOINTMENTS BY THE CITY COUNCIL TO TIE CITIZENS
ADVISORY COMMITTEES FOR A ONE -YEAR TERM ENDING
DECEMBER 31, 1999 (appointed by Council upon recommendation
of each Council Member) (contd. from 1/11/99 and 1/25/99).
Environmental Quality Affairs Citizens Affairs Committee
(District 7) Mayor Pro Tem Thomson's appointment of Judy Ware,
and (at -large member).
Without objection, the appointment was confirmed.
Harbor Quality-Citizens Affairs Committee
(District 6) Mayor Pro Tem O'Neil's appointment of Lee Sutherland
(replaces his previous appointment of Seymour Beek).
(District 7) Mayor Pro Tem Thomson's appointment of James-Martinez.
Chairman Council Member Rid¢ewav (appointed by the Mayor).
Vice Chairman Council Member Glover (appointed by the Mayor).
Without objection, the appointments were confirmed.
CURRENT BUSINESS
13. UNSCHEDULED VACANCIES ON THE PLANNING COMMISSION.
Motion by Mayor O'Neil to continue the appointments of the two vacant
seats on the Planning Commission with terms expiring June 30, 2000 and
June 30, 2002 to February 22, 1999.
Mayor O'Neil assured that all members of Council will be in attendance.
Volume 52 - Page 351
FINMR
Ord 99 -3
Non - Exclusive
Solid Waste
Collection
Franchise/
American
Wrecking &
West Coast
Land
Clearing
(42)
EQAC &
Harbor Quality
Appointments
(24)
Planning
Commission
Appointments
(24)
City of Newport Beach
City Council Minutes
February S, 1999
Without objection, the motion carried by acclamation.
MOTION FOR RECONSIDERATION - None
ADJOURNMENT - 7:45 p.m.
:ssssssssssysssssssssssssssssss
The agenda for the Regular Meeting was posted on February 3, 1999, at
3:15 p.m. on the City Hall Bulletin Board located outside of the City of
Newport Beach Administration Building. The supplemental agenda for the
Regular Meeting was posted on February 5, 1999, at 3:15 p.m. on the City
Hall Bulletin Board located outside of the City of Newport Beach
Administration Building.
City Clerk
Recording Secretary
Mayor
Volume 52 - Page 352
575TOR9