Council to define Greenlight

Noaki Schwartz

NEWPORT BEACH -- The City Council will decide tonight on setting

definitions for wording used in the proposed slow-growth measure, which

has been called confusing and vague.

Last month, the council approved an $11,500 study of how the measure

might affect the city if it is approved at the polls this fall.

“It is very likely it will make a difference as to whether something

would have to go to a vote of the people,” Deputy City Manager Sharon

Wood said.

The Protect From Traffic and Density Initiative, popularly called the

Greenlight Initiative, proposes to let residents have a say on

developments that require major amendments to the general plan, the

city’s guide for future land use.

“Major” is defined as a project exceeding the limits of the city’s

general plan by more than 100 peak-hour car trips, more than 100 homes or

more than 40,000 square feet of floor area.

These thresholds do not apply to the city as a whole, but to each of its

49 distinct neighborhoods. Each area has its own history of general plan

amendments. As a result, once any of the thresholds is maxed out in an

area, virtually any proposed development would require a vote.

City officials have said the problem is the half-page long initiative has

a number of ambiguous terms, which could make the job of the analyst

conducting the study more difficult.

City staff members wrestled with how to define such terms as floor area

and peak-hour car trips, as well as other wording in the measure.

“The analyst has started to gather the data,” Wood said. “We just want to

make sure we’re adding it all up right.”

It is important for the study to be accurate in analyzing the measure,

which could change the city’s planning process and growth patterns.

Once the terms are defined, the wording will be given to the analyst, who

is expected to finish the study by late spring.

o7 The council meeting is at 7 p.m. today at City Hall, 3300 Newport

Blvd.

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