News: Councilwoman Nancy Gardner

city council district 6 v corona del mar & newport coast

Nancy Gardner

councilwoman v newport beach, california

february UPDATE

GROUP HOMES
We are fast approaching the abatement deadline for group homes that didn’t apply for a use permit under the City’s ordinance. As yet we don’t know if any will voluntarily comply, but for those that don’t we will initiate proceedings to close them. Meanwhile, Senator Harmon is once again trying to introduce a bill in Sacramento that would address the issue of overconcentration, and while not wildly optimistic about a successful outcome we hope for a great deal more support than the first time around.

YOU SAY ADVOCATE, I SAY LOBBY
The state Department of Water Resources is promulgating a new irrigation ordinance. I don’t know what professional organization represents landscape architects, but I can’t help but suspect that they were, if not actively pushing this, at least jumping up and down enthusiastically on the sidelines. Under the new law, any new or remodeled landscape over 2,500 square feet now has to have a plan drawn up by a landscape architect. No more do-it-yourself. The plan has to get planning and building permits, and then a landscape architect has to sign off on the finished product. Ka-ching.

Speaking of water, the City is hosting a Water Wise Workshop March 5, 6-8 pm, at the Central Library, featuring Ron Vanderhoff of Roger’s Gardens.

BARK PARK
I have had a couple of people approach me about a bark park in Newport Beach. Now, I have a 70-pound Weimeraner who likes to sit on my lap in the evening, and since I actually let him you get a sense of where I stand on dogs. Since he’s a high energy animal–when he’s not on my lap–having a place where he could legally retrieve tennis balls is an attractive thought. The main problem is finding a place that’s safe for the dogs and doesn’t create an issue with residents, not easy to find in our built-out community. The second concern I have is whether users would pick up after their dogs. There are still dog owners out there who seem to think that their pet’s poop doesn’t–well, you know.

LOCAL COASTAL LAND USE PLAN
The City has been seeking approval of its Coastal Land Use Plan from the Coastal Commission. If approved, the City would take over most of the functions of the Commission within our coastal zone. If unapproved, everyone would continue to have to work through the Commission for approvals. It came down to the wire. The City’s proposed plan had to be approved by the Commission on February 5, or we have to go back and start over, a year’s delay, at least. The Commission staff made innumerable changes to what the City initially presented, and our staff has been working diligently with them for months to resolve these differences, but in two areas we remained in disagreement: time shares and lower-cost accommodations in the coastal zone.

The Coastal Act makes no mention of time-shares, so Commission staff interpreted this as a ban. The commissioners disagreed with this sweeping judgment, allowing time shares in visitor-serving areas with some conditions which will be worked out during the implementation phase. The second issue was thornier, as are all “affordable” issues in an area with high land values. The City had already agreed to charge in-lieu fees if new development eliminates existing lower-cost visitor accommodations. What we didn’t want was to have to go back to the Commission each time for permission to spend the funds, and we also argued for the flexibility to use the funds for visitor-serving recreational facilities as well as for lower-cost accommodations. Since we have so many day visitors, this made sense to me but not to the commissioners who insisted the money go only for the accommodations, but they didn’t require oversight of the funds.

The Council will study the wording of these requirements to see if they meet our needs and can be approved.

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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