(Editors Note: Newport Beach City Manager Dave Kiff publishes a regular email column alerting residents to what’s coming on this week’s city council agenda. It’s a meaningful effort by a city manager to inform the citizenry of what’s coming, from an official perspective and we’ve chosen to highlight it. We hope every city manager across Orange County follows suit.)
Here’s what’s on the agenda for the Newport Beach City Council meeting set for Tuesday, November 22, 2016.
More detailed Council meeting information is at the end of the Guide. I don’t summarize every item on the agenda, so make sure you look at the City Clerk’s agenda page to read the whole agenda if you’d like.
There is no study session, so the evening’s meeting will begin at 7:00 p.m. A couple of items are worth your attention:
- This is relatively minor, but we’ll ask the Council to process a Local Coastal Program (LCP) amendment for the Lido House Hotel to add 4,745 square feet primarily for storage and logistical purposes.
- A couple of things passed last time get second reading – updated building and fire codes, and the formal adoption of our LCP’s Implementation Plan.
- The folks in Cameo Shores are happy to see a massive street reconstruction program finished – that was a job long in the doing and long necessary.
- There was going to be a public hearing about outdoor dining at the Village Inn on Balboa Island, but this is recommended to be removed from consideration at this time.
- The City and the Irvine Company have discussed an extension to the roughly 15-year old development agreementthat addresses remaining unbuilt entitlement in the Newport Coast. That proposed extension is set for a public hearing.
- The landowners of the “old” Riverside Avenue post officehave asked that the General Plan and Zoning designations for the 0.52 acre site be changed from Public Facilities to Mixed Use. Generally, doing so would allow a minimum of 10 residential units and a max of 13 to be constructed there. However, there is no project under consideration at this time that would do that – just the zoning and GP change.
- Council will spend some time discussing alternative designs for improvements to Bayside Drive between West Coast Highway (near Dover) and Marine/Jamboree. This is an area where Bayside Drive residents have expressed concerns about rates of travel and reckless driving. Both concept designs involve some measure of traffic calming. Traffic calming helps use the street’s own design to slow speeds down. One plan has a roundabout (!) at the intersection of Harbor Island Drive and Bayside. Quick aside: the little town in Northern CA where I grew up just about had a civic meltdown (waged via letters to the editor) over adding a roundabout to the main route of travel through town. But it’s in now, at least in an early construction phase, and everyone seems to say it’s a big improvement over what was there before.
Some random notes:
- I hope everyone has a safe and enjoyableThanksgiving Day holiday. As a reminder, City offices are closed both on Thursday and Friday of next week.
- Harbor Tour! The Newport Beach Harbor Commission is conducting its biennial Saturday morning Harbor Tour on Saturday, December 10th. The meeting starts at 8:30 a.m. at the Harbor Patrol facility off of Bayside Drive. Any member of the public can attend provided you are not the person that makes us exceed boat capacity. That’s about 60-70 guests in addition to Harbor Commissioners. You always have the option of swimming or paddling to keep up J. Topics for consideration range from derelict vessels to alternative anchorages to the new Central Avenue Pier to speed limits and (our favorite) copper-based anti-fouling paints.
- A reminder of upcoming meetings. There are three more planned for 2016: This one on 11-22, then the Council will hear the proposed Museum House project starting at 7:00 p.m. on Tuesday, November 29th. The final proposed meeting of this term, which is also the meeting that starts the Council’s 2017-2019 term, is set for Tuesday, December 13th. It is likely we’ll start that meeting with the “old Council” and regular business items as soon as 5:00 p.m. Later in the evening, near 7:00 p.m., is the traditional reorganization of the Council, with statements for and from departing Council members, the swearing in of three new members, and the election of the 2017 Mayor and Mayor pro Tempore. After that date, the new Council may not meet again until January 10th, 2017.
As always, thanks for reading. Please forward this Guide to family, friends and members of your HOA if you represent one. I always like hearing from you, too, so please don’t hesitate to ask a question or offer a comment.
Dave Kiff, Newport Beach City Manager.
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