city council district 6 v corona del mar & newport coast
Nancy Gardner
councilwoman v newport beach, california
OCTOBER UPDATE
CITY HALL IN THE PARK
Along with other council members I attended the presentations of the five firms
competing to design the new city hall. For those softies who couldn’t sit
through the full eight hours, there will be a Reader’s Digest version on the
city’s television channel, and display boards at city hall, the central library
and other locations. All of the firms promoted green buildings and all were
cognizant that the project was to be as promoted – City Hall IN the park with
well-developed plans for the park area. The City Hall Design Committee, made up
of four architects and one landscape architect, will be reviewing the
presentations in depth. It is the committee’s job to make a recommendation to
the Council. It will be Council’s job to restrain from treating the five
proposals like a menu from a Chinese restaurant and take two items from proposal
one, three from proposal two, etc., and creating our own blind man’s elephant.
BANNING RANCH
The City has hired Buss-Shelger Associates to do a preliminary appraisal of
Banning Ranch. The plan is to get both high and low end estimates so that we
have some idea of the kind of funds it might take to purchase the property and
keep it as open space. Meanwhile, the owners have submitted their development
plans, a draft scope of work is being prepared, and an EIR will be
produced–perhaps an 18-month undertaking.
BEGONIA PARK
Friends of Begonia Park hired a biologist to look at the proposed building site.
Although his findings were inconclusive, the Assistant City Attorney felt that
there were enough questions raised to send the project back to the Planning
Commission to determine if it needs an EIR.
AIRPORT
We had a joint meeting with the Costa Mesa City Council to discuss ways the two
cities can cooperate on airport issues. There was an informative report from L&B
Associates that analyzed usage of the airport and identified several groups that
might be persuaded to use another airport such as Ontario. There were also ideas
to relieve traffic congestion around the airport although I suppose one way to
discourage usage of JWA would be to make getting there so horrendous that any
alternative would be preferable.
BOATS AT BIG
CORONA
As feared, one of the boats anchored off Big Corona broke loose from its mooring
and ended up in pieces on the beach, and there wasn’t even a storm or big surf.
We have learned that the Public Trust Doctrine grants navigation rights to
anyone in public waters, and these rights include anchoring. However, there is
no constitutional right to unregulated long-term anchoring, so staff has been
requested to come up with either an ordinance the city could enact or other
enforcement methods. Meanwhile, flyers are being given to boaters telling them
not to discharge waste or face $25,000 or a year in jail.
CITY WEB SITE
It is embarrassing to be someone so familiar with the city and have such a hard
time finding the information I want on the city web site. Fortunately for people
like me, we have hired a firm to do a complete redesign. The Media and
Communications Committee was given examples of the firm’s work for other cities,
and they were not only attractive but appeared very accessible. Meanwhile, if
you are a city news junkie, you can sign up for e-alert to get automatic emails
on subjects of your choice. Just go to the city web site and sign up. It’s
easy–even for me.
FUTURE TOPIC SUGGESTIONS
This is a two-way process, so please don’t hesitate to contact me with your ideas and opinions.
Councilwoman Nancy Gardner
QUALITY OF LIFE Advocate FOR NEWPORT BEACH
City of Newport Beach - 3300 Newport Blvd - Newport Beach, CA 92663
Phone: 949.644.3004 - EMAIL: gardnerncy@aol.com
Copyright 2008 v Nancy Gardner v All Rights Reserved