News: Council Member Nancy Gardner

city council district 6 v corona del mar & newport coast

Nancy Gardner

council member v newport beach, california

newsletter: august 2013

YOU SAY POTATO . . .
It's always interesting to see residents' different perspectives. The Arts Commission has put on two concerts, both ending by 8 pm, on the civic green. After the first concert, featuring a U2 cover band, we got an email from a resident across the highway, irate at the noise and hoping the city wasn't planning on future events. At the next concert--a Springsteen cover--we got an email from a different resident from the same neighborhood who felt like he had the best seat in town and hoped we would have lots more. Not sure if it's just different tastes in music or different ideas of enjoyment. And then there are the rabbits in the park. Some people hate them, some people love them. Then there are those who like them but wish they weren't white. Not to worry. With all the kids clambering over them the bunnies will soon look like native fauna.

GENERAL PLAN UPDATE
There is a relatively new entity, the Land Use Amendment Advisory Committee (which I now dub LUAAC). Made up of council members, planning commissioners and residents, LUACC will look at making changes to the land use designation of selected areas of the city. This will be of interest to residents because some of the changes involve moving unused traffic trips from one area to another. The overall trip counts in the General Plan would not change, but traffic counts in specific areas would. There will be plenty of community outreach, probably beginning in the fall. Meanwhile, if you wish to attend a meeting, the next one is scheduled for August 6, 3:30 pm, in the Corona del Mar meeting room in city hall. Check the city's website for updates.

GENERAL PLAN/LOCAL COASTAL PLAN IMPLEMENTATION COMMITTEE
The acronym for this would be GPLCPIC which no matter how you pronounce it is unpronounceable, so let's just refer to it as C-PIC which is made up of council members and planning commissioners. The Coastal Commission conditionally approved the city's LCP, leaving certain issues to be resolved in implementation plan. One is the categorical exclusion order which has exempted certain residential areas from the coastal development permit provisions of the Coastal Act. This automatically terminates when the LCP is certified, but the committee will explore ways to maintain the exclusion and perhaps expand it. Another focus is determining development limits of coastal bluff and canyon properties. Based on interaction with CCC staff, this might require drawing specific development boundaries for each property within these areas. Finally, the committee is looking at the boundary of the coastal zone itself to see if there are ways to make it more logical--following property lines, for example, instead of bisecting properties which is often the case. It is expected that public outreach will begin in late fall. Once the LCP is certified, residents within the coastal zone will come to the city instead of the CCC for a development permit, and I can assure you, whatever faults the city may have, we are much faster and much easier to work with. Next meeting of C-PIC--September 25, 12:30.

PICKLEBALL
If your knees have been hinting that running and tennis are not the jolly pastimes they used to be, then maybe you should look into pickleball, a racquet sport that provides plenty of exercise without as much wear and tear, and one which is much easier to pick up than tennis. Pickleball will debut this fall at the Newport Coast Community Center, Mondays and Fridays, 12:30-3, September 6 through December 9. It's $3 a person per session of doubles, and equipment is provided. For more information, look for the Navigator, put out by the city's Recreation Department.

SAY IT ISN'T SO
Cynthia Cowell, our library director, is leaving. When she arrived, she didn't exactly have me at hello, but she certainly had me when she said she had no plans to close the Corona del Mar branch. Under her direction, the library not only expanded physically, it plunged joyfully into the twenty first century with more computers, more space for students and laptops, new space for new media, and still plenty of books for those of us wedded to print. She's off to Tennessee, and she leaves a huge pair of shoes to fill, at least in terms of performance. Her actual feet are quite dainty.

FUTURE TOPIC SUGGESTIONS

This is a two-way process, so please don’t hesitate to contact me with your ideas and opinions. My email address for city business is: NGardner@newportbeachca.gov. Don’t worry if you forget it. I’ll still be using the AOL one, too.

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Council Member Nancy Gardner

QUALITY OF LIFE ADVOCATE FOR NEWPORT BEACH

City of Newport Beach | 100 Civic Center Drive | Newport Beach, CA 92660

Phone: 949.644.3004 | EMAIL: ngardner@newportbeachca.gov