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HomeMy WebLinkAboutSS4 - Newport Heights Bicycle and Pedestrain Facilities - CorrespondenceReceived After Agenda Printed January 28, 2020 Agenda Item No. SS4 From: Joann Lombardo <joann@ialcps.com> Sent: Friday, January 24, 2020 3:07 PM To: Avery, Brad <bavery@newportbeachca,gov>; Brine, Tony <tbrine@newportbeachca.gov> Subject: Newport Heights Study Session. Hi Brad and Tony. I will not be able to attend the study session on Tuesday. But wanted to provide my vote of support for sidewalks on Clay Street. The sharrows are getting used and do appear to help with the bikes. I, like most of my neighbors, continue to oppose dedicated bike lanes that would restrict parking. Thank you. Joann Lombardo Cell: 949-243-5274 January 28, 2020 Item No. SS4 Subject: FW: Traffic Problems in the Heights Hello Leilani, Many cars that we see in the Heights Area act like they own the road (actually it is the driver, not the carQ). So many of the cars now are so much bigger than many decades ago when the roads were built, that fitting parked cars on both sides of the road and then two SUV's so that there are often 4 cars across, is very difficult and it is at that time that the drivers need to slow down, But many don't; they just go barreling through. Also. drivers failing to stop at stop signs is a rampant problem. Finally, because the Heights is a condensed area, and houses many schools, drivers need to be much more careful about accommodating children on bikes. They need to think in terms of the possibility that that school child could be their own. Respectfully submitted, Lynn Lorenz 434 Redlands Avenue Newport Beach, Ca Sent from my iPad Received After Agenda Printed January 28, 2020 Agenda Item No. SS4 From: Irene McAleer <immmac@gmail.com> on behalf of Irene McAleer <immmac@msn.com> Sent: Monday, January 27, 2020 1:48 PM To: Dept - City Council Subject: Significant Link proposal Dear Council Members, I am writing to you of my concern for the proposed "significant links" on the Tustin, Clay and Beacon streets. I live on the corner of Clay Street and Irvine Avenue and find that the proposed addition of bike specific lanes, one way lanes and sidewalk lanes as likely to be more dangerous and confusing to the children and parents trying to get to their children to school than to be helpful. Having 2 schools ( a high school and a middle school ) nearby, I am, of course, concerned on student safety. The school congestion is generally in the morning more so than the afternoon as the high school students leave at varying times and the traffic in the afternoon from the middle school is also somewhat staggered as compared to the start of school traffic. The middle school students, as a rule, are being dropped off by their parents closer to the school than at Clay and Irvine. There are few students walking to school in this area and those that do are using the sidewalk that is already on Irvine Avenue. But again, most children are being dropped off much closer to the middle school than to the area that is proposed for significant link areas. The illustrations used demonstrated set bike lanes and sidewalks on roads that had two or more lanes on each side in a more urban or city/industrial area and not a small residential side street with only one travel lane for each direction. Separate and divided bike lanes and sidewalks are indeed necessary in a city or urban area where there are multiple lanes on each direction traveled. The loss of the traffic lanes for travel and parking would be significant in these small residential streets and actually cause more disruption on automobile and car traffic as there would be less space between opposing traffic lanes and more risk for car and bicycle accidents, increasing the risk to the students trying to get to school and increasing the congestion in a small residential street delaying the students getting to school on time, increasing the time of commute, and aggravating the parents and residents alike with unnecessary congestion on a small street. The neighborhood would also suffer in its aesthetics if long standing shade trees would be cut down to allow more traffic into a residential neighborhood with the addition of concrete bike lanes and concrete sidewalks. In today's time of global warming and concern over the environment, removing these essential trees would be a travesty and downgrade the beauty and worth of Newport Heights and destroy the neighborhood feel for a theoretical benefit by bike only lanes and sidewalks that would likely only be used for the morning commute, if at all, as most children are being driven directly to school and not dropped off at all the locations outlined on your presentation. The costs for implementing these links would be prohibitively expensive for most homeowners and ruin the beautiful well established tree lined streets that make Newport Heights the area where we want to live. As it is now, most middle school students ride to school in their parents' cars and some ride bicycles in the approved lanes sharing the road with the cars in the now designated areas, which is an improvement to the haphazard way the children would ride their bikes to school. The afternoon is not as congested as many children get out at different times and the traffic( bicycle, car and pedestrian) is not as busy as it is in the morning. Is it perfect, no. But as long as there are children who travel on bikes or skateboards, there will always be risks to them sharing the road with other bicyclists and drivers as many of the children do not pay attention to the rules of the road and the addition of a set concrete bike lane or sidewalk is not likely to change that ... many will likely continue to use the road itself and not a lane on the side of the road. This risk would be on any street in any neighborhood, not just those several blocks away from a school. The narrowing of the road by these additions is more likely to cause accidents and injury by making the cars and bicycles travel in more narrow lanes with less visibility to all the traffic activity going on at those busy school start and stop times. It is laudable that the City Council wants to protect the students going and coming from school but adding more concrete as bicycle lanes and sidewalks in not the answer in this established residential area with small streets and not the highway or city/urban lanes as demonstrated on the presentation of suggested significant links. Those streets by the amount of multiple lane traffic demonstrated would require the separate bike lanes and sidewalks. Our Newport Heights residential area does not. Thank you for reviewing our neighborhood concerns. We care about the children's safety but it can be reasonably achieved by allowing the parents to drop the children off as they have and allow the children to follow the designated bike routes without changing the neighborhood aesthetics and environmentally sound and established trees. Sincerely, Irene M. McAleer, MD 2201 Clay Street January 28, 2020 Item No. SS4 From: City Clerk's Office Subject: FW: Newport Heights Meeting Hi there, We received a postcard about the meeting on 1/28 at 4pm. We live at 2507 Margaret Drive and our son goes to Newport Heights Elementary. We walk to school every day and we walk our dogs often in the neighborhood. The biggest issue for us is the lack of sidewalks on Tustin between Holly and 15th street. Most typically, we try to dash across the street when we exit our alley. Dashing across the street isn't great due to cars and bikes, but it's often preferable to walking on the houses on Tustin between our alley and 15th. When we try to walk on Tustin, we walk on people's grass. One neighbor has bushes so we have to step over those or go into the street to get around them. There is an electrical pole at the corner of 15th that we have to sort of sway underneath. In addition, there are regularly landscape trucks so we have to walk in the street to not bump into those. We need sidewalks and hope that Tustin can get some, similar to those that were added on 15th. It's especially frustrating for us that two of the houses we pass are new construction and they did not put sidewalks in when they were built. It seems like it would be pretty obvious that the city would require some sort of sidewalk or walking path for new builds or remodels. Another side note is that occasional police presence on Margaret Drive during High School drop off pick up times would be lovely. We regularly see the police at the corner of Margaret and Irvine, but the middle of the street might be great. Some of the parents (never the high school kids) drive SO FAST! It's crazy. Thanks for reading, Murphy Curtis 949.413.4104 stin ave noldovajanoo wen ev's n1 a ve to go around mailbox s'` -p - l, 1fi rfoirfw 19Vb'Sp� bnb 7�.L6W9bi2 d street sign.�r,J`ry�G_:.,.:.:: palBW "'Yoa n9V9 J n i` �- r -N' �. �w xa• Y; ti :4r zp t61�yj�i i +'1 J ✓ r' t p r y y` �i Tustin and 15th r. �,. Tustin ave iHave'too around mailbox, i7 g.w.. Have to step over bushes and-_ funder pole and under cable. ail And not 'i street as car sr might come from around t ! ... � "a„_nd' t s , ... cornernoee you due �t�o, bushes�fad9't��,' }. Received After Agenda Printed January 28, 2020 Agenda Item No. SS4 Marc Perkins Secretary - Costa Mesa Alliance for Better Streets Biology Professor - Orange Coast College Planning Commissioner - City of Costa Mesa January 27, 2020 Newport Beach City Council 100 Civic Center Drive Newport Beach, CA 92660 cityclerk(ccDnewportbeachca.gov Dear Newport Beach City Council, I appreciate that you are having a study session regarding pedestrian / bicycle access in the Newport Heights region of Newport Beach; unfortunately I will be teaching a class during the meeting, and will be unable to attend. I wanted to encourage you to do as much as possible to make bicycling and walking safer in this region of Newport Beach, especially in light of the number of children walking or biking to school in this area. The National Association of City Transportation Officials (NACTO) publishes multiple design guidelines that could be of assistance when determining what facilities to build: • NACTO Urban Street Design Guide • NACTO Urban Bikeway Design Guide These guidelines are written for modern cities where people use multimodal transportation (walk, bike, transit, and drive), in contrast to other transportation design guidelines (e.g., the AASHTO standards are written primarily for highways). Many streets in the Newport Heights neighborhood lack sidewalks on both sides. As it currently stands, these streets are functioning as "shared streets" (streets where pedestrians, bicyclists, and drivers all share the same space). While shared streets exist in cities across America, the NACTO Urban Bikeway Design Guide (in the "Designing for All Ages and Abilities" subsection) specifies that a shared street design is only suitable if the vehicle speeds on the street are less than 10mph (NACTO.org). Since drivers in Newport Heights regularly exceed 10mph, I would thus recommend that the city either: • Build continuous sidewalks along both sides of all streets in the neighborhood, • or, if residents object to sidewalks on their streets, re-engineer those streets (by, for example, narrowing the lanes, adding chicanes, adding landscaping, and adding curb extensions) so that the typical driver travels at 10mph. See the NACTO page on shared streets for more. January 28, 2020 Item No. SS4 Subject: FW: Newport Heights City Council Study Session -Pedestrian and Bicycle Access Dear Participants of the City Council Study Session, Thank you for the opportunity to provide input into the study session of pedestrian and bicycle safety in the Newport Heights area. My husband and I have been residents of Cliffhaven for nearly 30 years and our children attended the three schools in this community. My husband and I walk daily and pass both Newport Harbor and Ensign on our route. During the past twelve years since we have walked this route, I have spoken with administrators of Ensign, the school resource officers, the traffic division of city of Newport Beach police, motorcycle police officers near the schools, and crossing guards to report safety concerns. The concerns I expressed were in regard to the safety of pedestrians and bicyclists; yet each time I felt that my concerns were falling on deaf ears. Often a day or so after my contacting the authorities there would be increased monitoring and after a few more days, none. There are dedicated bike lanes on Irvine Avenue for students to use on their way to and from Ensign. There is a sidewalk on only one side of the street, leading from NHHS to Ensign. This sidewalk is used for students walking to Harbor and to Ensign and other pedestrians. Over the years we have made many observations on our morning walks when we walk on Irvine Ave. from the corner of 15`h and Irvine towards Ensign. Those observations include the following: 1. Bicyclists riding two (and even three) abreast on the Irvine Ave. sidewalk from Newport Harbor down to Ensign: As a pedestrian, having two or three bicyclists ride quickly up behind you is a v_yr frightening experience. Often the bicyclists beep a horn asking the pedestrian to make room. We have a friend who is a quadriplegic due to such a run in with a bicycle. 2. Bicyclists riding bikes on sidewalks rather than going with traffic in the bike lane: In the morning, motorists coming out of alleys or side streets on Irvine Ave who plan to make a right turn onto Irvine do not anticipate bicyclists heading south on the sidewalk. Before making a right turn onto Irvine Ave. motorists generally look south for autos and are not looking for bicyclists to the north on the sidewalk. We have witnessed one accident and several near accidents at alleyways due to bicyclists riding on the sidewalk on Irvine. 3. Bicyclists failing to stop at intersections with stop signs on Irvine such as the ones at Clay Coral and Beacon. Students are observed failing to stop at stop signs daily. 4. Bicyclists riding two (or three) abreast in the bike lane going towards Ensign: We have also observed a skateboarder holding on to the back of a bicycle. 5. Skateboarders riding dangerously near pedestrians: Students on skateboards also use this sidewalk to make their way to Ensign. They rarely stop at intersections while on the sidewalks and assume that they have the right of way in crossing an intersection. Last spring a skateboarder ran into me from behind as I walked on that sidewalk. We have also witnessed skateboarders losing control of boards, chasing them into the street with no regard to motorists. It would be our hope that as the Safety Committee develops safety plans they would give as much consideration to the safety of pedestrians as to bicyclists. Below are some considerations for a safety plan: Education: Require elementary and middle school bicyclists and skateboarders to participate in annual police department -sponsored safety training and to be certified to earn the privilege of biking or skateboarding to school. This training should occur before the first day of school. This could include both the student and the parent signing a contract acknowledging the rules and that the privilege of riding a bike or skating to school can be revoked for safety violations. Training young bicyclists and skateboarders will be an investment in their future safety. Use of Dedicated Bike Lanes: There is a dedicated bike lane on Irvine Avenue between 151h Street and Cliff Drive. This bike lane prohibits residents from parking in front of their homes during school hours, which is most likely an inconvenience for those residents. Cars are often ticketed when parked in that location during school hours. However, the majority of the bicyclists choose to ride their bikes on the sidewalk on the opposite side of the street. Students should be required to use this bike lane rather than riding on the sidewalk. This would provide a safe walking area for pedestrians on the sidewalk. Enforcement: Hold pedestrians, bicyclists, skateboarders, and motorists to the rules of the road. A concerted effort to require everyone to follow the laws for safety would go a long way toward achieving the goal of safety. Each year a new school year begins and we observe a new group of seventh graders riding their bikes or skateboarding carelessly, putting themselves, pedestrians, and motorists at risk. We also observe a whole new group of seventh grade parents ignoring the posted signs near the school. It seems that if there were a concerted effort on the first day of school and continuing everyday for several weeks that this problem could be eliminated and new, safe habits formed. Revocation of privileges or ticketing should be the appropriate consequences for repeat offenders. Empower the Crossing Guards: Crossing guards need to be empowered to support enforcing bicycle laws. Crossing guards now report that their only responsibility is to enforce pedestrian safety in crosswalks and they have been told not to ask bicyclists to use the bike lanes. Crossing guards need to be empowered to require that bicyclists remain in bike lanes rather than riding bicycles on sidewalks. Currently bicyclists ride the sidewalks on Irvine Avenue all the way to and from 17th street to Ensign. Ongoing Monitoring: With a commitment to ongoing, consistent monitoring throughout the year, this dangerous situation can be eliminated. After the first few weeks of school, officers should be present to enforce safety rules at least one day each week on a random basis. Ongoing Planning and Collaboration: There needs to be ongoing cooperation and collaboration between the schools and the city related to training and communication. Waiting until school starts is a missed opportunity to instill important safety habits on day one of a new school year. Thank you for taking the time to read and consider the concerns and the recommendations included in this correspondence. Pat Insley 623 St James Place Newport Beach, Ca. 92663 reemtive Many streets in the area lack support for people crossing the street. There are many techniques the city can use to make crossing the street safer: • Install curb extensions at all crossings, which extend the curb into the street (through the parking lane), thus better protecting pedestrians from vehicles. o A typical 36' wide street with two 8' parking lanes can have 8' curb extensions at each corner, thus reducing the width of the street children have to cross to only 20'. o Curb extensions also calm traffic by making the travel lane appear narrower and reducing turn radii, thus making the streets safer for everyone. • Install raised crosswalks that function as speed tables at all crosswalks near schools o Raised crosswalks elevate pedestrians, so they're easier to see, and also function as a form of vertical speed control device (essentially a wide, flat speed bump), slowing drivers. • Use HAWK signals (hybrid beacons) instead of flashing yellow beacons to protect pedestrians on higher volume streets (e.g., Irvine, 16th), and have sufficient supported crossings to allow pedestrians to cross in marked, supported crosswalks where they need to cross. o When HAWK signals are activated by pedestrians, they show a flashing yellow light followed by a red light. A 2006 study by the US Transportation Research Board found that fewer than 50% of drivers yielded to pedestrians at crossings with overhead flashing yellow beacons, while more than 95% of drivers yielded to pedestrians at crossings with HAWK signals. • Reduce driver speeds by designing the streets for reasonable speeds o For instance, NACTO advises that urban vehicle lanes should be 10' wide, with a maximum width of 11'. Wider lanes occupy space that could be better used to install safe infrastructure for pedestrians and/or bicyclists, and also promote speeding by drivers: "when lane widths are 1 m (3.3') greater, speeds are predicted to be 15km/h (9.4 mph) faster.)" (Fitzpatrick et al 2000, cited on NACTO.ora)." With regard to the proposals I have seen in the draft staff report: 1. While adding three streets as Significant Link Streets is a good start, more streets need to be added. A possible metric for deciding which streets to add would be any street that travels adjacent to a school, or connects to an intersection adjacent to a school, should be a Significant Link Street for at least half a mile from the edge of the school. a. Thus, all of 15th east of Irvine, and most of 16th, Santa Ana, San Bernardino, Redlands, Margaret, Holly, and Laurel should be added to the list. 2. While constructing sidewalks along a part of Beacon is a good start, all streets that have speeds in excess of 10mph should have sidewalks constructed on both sides of them, or be re -engineered to reduce driver speeds to 10mph. Prioritizing streets close to schools would be a logical way to begin this program. 3. Adding a wide sidewalk along Cliff Drive as a Class I off-street multi -use pathway is an excellent idea. However, when doing this I strongly encourage you to add signage that indicates that the sidewalk is intended to be used by both pedestrians and people on bikes, and to add (green) conflict -zone striping at all intersections and major driveways to alert drivers to the likely presence of bicyclists on the sidewalk. See the NACTO Urban Bikeway Design Guide's section on "Don't give up at the intersection" for more specifics. 4. 1 saw no mention of multiple other problems in the area: a. Parking should never be permitted in a bicycle lane. Multiple bike lanes in the area allow vehicle parking for much of the day, which prevents that lane from serving its protective purpose. In fact, allowing parking in bicycle lanes requires bicyclists to swerve in and out of the motor vehicle travel lanes to avoid parked cars, making this type of bike lane arguably more dangerous than not having a bike lane at all. b. There are insufficient safe crossings for students attempting to get to Newport Harbor High School - Irvine Avenue and 16th street should have multiple HAWK, stop -sign, or stop -light supported crossings in between the existing stop -sign controlled intersections to allow students to safely travel to school. I saw no consideration of traffic circles / roundabouts in the staff report. Traffic circles can increase vehicle throughput while increasing safety, but only if designed so that drivers are forced to reduce their speed through the use of narrow lanes / tight turn radii and pedestrian crossings are well marked and supported by elements like curb extensions and/or median pedestrian refuges (NACTO). And finally, I'd like to point out that improvements to Newport Beach's bicycling and walking infrastructure will almost certainly help reduce traffic. According to the National Household Travel Survey, 28% of all trips are 1 mile or less, a feasible distance for many people to walk, yet 60% of those trips are driven; 50% of all trips are 3 miles or less, an easy distance for bicycling, yet 72% of those trips are driven. By building safe, interconnected, all -ages all -abilities pedestrian and bicycle infrastructure, you will allow residents to transition from driving to bicycling and walking, improving not just traffic but the health and sense of community in Newport Beach. Every person who chooses to bike or walk instead of driving is one fewer vehicle on the road, and one fewer parking spot needed. Thank you for holding a study session on this important issue, and let me know if there is anything I can do to help you in this process. Sincerely, Marc C. Perkins Secretary - Costa Mesa Alliance for Better Streets Biology Professor - Orange Coast College Planning Commissioner - City of Costa Mesa Received After Agenda Printed January 28, 2020 Agenda Item No. SS4 Subject: FW: Proposed Designation of Clay Street as a Significant Link From: Mike Vas <flyboybates@sbcglobal.net> Sent: Monday, January 27, 2020 9:20 PM To: Dept - City Council<CityCouncil@newportbeachca.gov> Subject: Proposed Designation of Clay Street as a Significant Link [EXTERNAL EMAIL] DO NOT CLICK links or attachments unless you recognize the sender and know the content is safe. Dear City Council, My late father lived on the corner of Fullerton and Clay for 53 years. He passed away just after Thanksgiving in 2019 after battling a chronic health issue. The last 18 months of his life were quite difficult. Especially troubling for him was having to defend his property against a push for unnecessary bike lanes. That process and all the anxiety associated with it took quite a toll on him physically. His blood pressure elevated and he struggled to breath every time the topic of bike lanes came up. While I miss him and wish he were still here, part of me is relieved that he will not have to endure this latest attack on his property involving sidewalks. It would have robbed him of any peace during his final days. I am now responsible for this property and I am not interested in having Clay or any other Residential street turned into a Significant Link. Even if the city were to agree to pay for the sidewalks, we already have sidewalks on existing Significant Links including Irvine Ave and 15th street. Putting sidewalks on Clay is completely unnecessary since folks can easily use the sidewalks on 15th. I encourage the council to put an end to this discussion of sidewalks on Clay Street quickly since it impacts my ability to sell this property. Thank you for your time and consideration, Michael Vas Received After Agenda Printed January 28, 2020 Agenda Item No. SS4 Subject: FW: Sidewalks, etc. > At 22 never thought it a possibility but I made it. > Leave my neighborhood alone. Give us equal Police presence which we pay for and leave one of the last Charms of Newport intact at least from from the blocks S of of Clay. > HarryBarton@me.com > M 949.290.9596 > H 949.200.9636 >> On Jan 27, 2020, at 2:42 PM, Portia Weiss <portiaweiss@gmail.com> wrote: >> <Newport Heights Significant Links Proposal 1-28-2020.pdf> >> They want the residents to pay for the work on Clay and Tustin to start. A water heater permit could trigger the requirement to remove trees, install sidewalks, and replace the trees with up to 36" box trees at the homeowner's expense. No outreach except Tuesday study session at 4:OOPM. No study suggesting necessity. >> By designating these streets "Significant Links" they open the door for more traffic and even street widening. This would be a boon for Mariners Mile development. The Bicycle Master plan has not been updated since 2014. 1 Received After Agenda Printed January 28, 2020 Agenda Item No. SS4 From: Rieff, Kim Sent: Tuesday, January 28, 2020 9:40 AM To: Mulvey, Jennifer Subject: FW: Beacon Ave School Traffic Nuisance From: David Caulfield <dcaulfield@fixauto.com> Sent: Tuesday, January 28, 2020 9:35 AM To: Dept - City Council <CityCouncil@newportbeachca.gov> Cc: David Caulfield <dcaulfield@fixauto.com>; kim@tailspinbracelets.com Subject: Beacon Ave School Traffic Nuisance [EXTERNAL EMAIL] DO NOT CLICK links or attachments unless you recognize the sender and know the content is safe. To whom it may concern, We live at 400 Fullerton Ave. Corner house at Beacon and Fullerton. We located to NPH in 2017. Main reason; peacefulness. Since we moved into the neighborhood, we have been overwhelmed with school students destroying property, dragging backpacks alongside our vehicles parked in the streets, parents using foul -language on a regular basis during mismanaged traffic maneuvers, lawlessness and lack of concern for property owners in Heights. Students ride their bikes down the center of the street and on several occasions make attempts to purposely scare drivers into thinking their bikes will hit them. We have been overloaded with teachers and parents blocking our entry ways, driveways and front gates to our homes. 2 times daily our lives are disrupted with parent ignorance, selfishness and disorder. Bottom line for us: WE DO NOT WANT SIDEWALKS BECAUSE CITY AND SCHOOL HAS FAILED THEIR TASK OF CONTROLLING THE TRAFFIC AND STUDENTS. STAY OFF MY PROPERTY FOR LACK OF EXPERIENCE YOU HOLD IN THIS FIELD. WE DO NOT WANT SCHOOL PARKING ON OUR STREET. WE DO NOT WANT TO BE A COMMUTER ROAD FOR THE SCHOOL AND THROUGH TRAFFIC. THE SCHOOL KNOWS HOW VALUABLE LAND IS AND THAT'S WHY THEY WON'T UTILIZE THEIR PROPERTY AND CHOOSE TO STEAL OUR PROPERTIES TO MEET THEIR NEEDS. SCHOOL NEEDS TO OWN UP TO ITS OVERLOADED SCHOOL CRISIS IMPOSED UPON THEMSELVES AND PUSHED OUT TO THE HOMEOWNERS AS TO EASE THE SCHOOLS PAIN. Please clean up this mess you created and stay off our properties in Newport Heights. David DAVID CAULFIELD Owner Fix Auto Anaheim North www.fixautousa.com/anaheim-north 91 (!0 V 320 N Anaheim Blvd, Anaheim , CA 92805 �. (714) 262-4062 (714) 410-7889 J (714) 470-6625 A) dcaulfield(@fixauto.com Received After Agenda Printed 1/26/2020 January 28, 2020 JF Carlson Architects, Inc. Agenda Item No. SS4 .LAMES F. CARLSON /fcarlson(a roadrunner.com 2300 CLIFF DRIVE NEWPORT BEACH CALIFORNIA 92663 PHONE 949-645-3051 FAX 949-645-4851 CELL 714-606-5889 Mr. Will O'Neill, Mayor Mr. Brad Avery, Mayor Pro Tem Ms. Diane Dixon Mr. Duffy Duffield Mr. Kevin Muldoon Mr. Jeff Herdman Ms. Joy Brenner Council Members: City of Newport Beach One City Center Drive Newport Beach, CA. Re: Sidewalk expansion plans for the north side of Cliff Drive Dear: Council Members, I live at 2300 Cliff Drive and my property is within the area you are considering expanding the sidewalks on the north side of Cliff Drive. I would like to bring some personal observations regarding the feasibility and the complexity of this undertaking to your attention. I have been a resident of Newport Heights for over 39 years and have lived at the same house located at 2300 Cliff Drive in Newport Beach for the entire time. I also have been an Architect for over 42 years. To add an extra wide sidewalk all along the North side of Cliff Drive from Irvine Ave. to Riverside Ave. to match the 10' Foot sidewalk located from Riverside drive to Avon street is not feasible. See attached photos To add a 4'-4" side walk to match the cities current requirement when the property owner builds a new structure along the 2200 Block of Cliff Drive would require major renovations for the property owners existing front steps located along the 2300, 2400 blocks of Cliff Drive. See attached photos To add a 4'-4" side walk to the 2500 and 2600 Blocks of Cliff Drive would require the new construction of major retaining walls because of the severe slopes at the properties and the street. See attached photos The construction of these new sidewalks will be costly and I would advise you to require some engineering analysis and cost estimates completed before you were to consider the widening of the sidewalks located along this stretch of Cliff Drive. Sincerely, James F. 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J �.j�Y i.,-{ G.�F +SL�'�Cj��`�'`lu .{�1T ^ _ _ '-•J :Js � ✓. �'� �� it i Y X1,'_1..1 i Z � t-L A.. � �.,, + y T� ZO vJ IL Ir mi k+� r• ,,�2d .1�E1/ .. � �r� , ! F'�P'- rti �A� �' �. It t _ Aw �� #n*--,�-1 ell�;104 ,p 1 PyA'a f •� 4; �'J 'N ,�jL�.y� 5 .. � sem- - ' i if, c - - qtt 1 5 � Recieved After Agenda Printed January 28, 2020 Item No. SS4 Subject: FW: Sidewalks From: Lynn Lorenz Sent: Tuesday, January 28, 2020 11:53:15 AM (UTC -08:00) Pacific Time (US & Canada) To: City Clerk's Office; Dept - City Council Subject: Sidewalks [EXTERNAL EMAIL] DO NOT CLICK links or attachments unless you recognize the sender and know the content is safe. Attention- City Clerk's Office Please confirm receipt of this email and include in today's study meeting packet. To City Clerk and Council Members: Whether to put in sidewalks in an area that is approximately 70 years old is a major decision that should not be made by the whims of a few, but by the desires of the many. It is not a simple endeavor and as such should be carefully and completely researched before any major decisions are made. Thank you. Respectfully yours, Lynn Lorenz 434 Redlands Avenue Newport Beach, Ca Received After Agenda Printed January 28, 2020 Item No. SS4 Mulvey, Jennifer From: City Clerk's Office Sent: Tuesday, January 28, 2020 12:38 PM To: Mulvey, Jennifer; Rieff, Kim Subject: FW: Newport Heights Sidewalks From: TOMLU BAKER Sent: Tuesday, January 28, 2020 12:37:55 PM (UTC -08:00) Pacific Time (US & Canada) To: Dept - City Council; City Clerk's Office Cc: TOMLU BAKER Subject: Newport Heights Sidewalks [EXTERNAL EMAIL] DO NOT CLICK links or attachments unless you recognize the sender and know the content is safe. Hello Mr. Mayor and Councilmembers, My name is Tom Baker. My family has lived in Newport Heights for 48 years. We do not live on one of the streets being considered for sidewalks Tuesday. A traffic study was completed in 2018. Almost all the recommendations made by the consultant have been implemented. It seems that everything is moving smoothly. Why does this proposal for sidewalks come up now? I can see no reason to add sidewalks to the streets where you are proposing them. Especially at the expense of the many mature healthy parkway trees which are a public benefit. Please count me as opposed to additional sidewalks in Newport Heights. Thanks, Tom Baker Please include in today's Council packet and acknowledge receipt of this email. I Received After Agenda Printed January 28, 2020 Item No. SS4 January 28, 2020 Newport Beach City Council 100 Civic Center Drive Newport Beach, CA 92660 cityclerk@newportbeachca.gov Re: Newport Heights Study Session Dear Newport Beach City Council, First, I'd like to thank the Council for taking the time to study pedestrian and bicycle infrastructure improvements in Newport Heights. We often times focus any/all review of improving the public right-of- way by looking solely at how to best empower and facilitate the driving of private vehicles. The result of this focus has, more often than not, ended up adversely impacting both local residents and our environment. Newport Heights, with its schools, parks, and quaint streets is ideally suited for walking and cycling, and I believe the City of Newport Beach should be taking steps to both enable and encourage residents to walk and bike in these neighborhoods. This effort begins with providing a safe environment for both young and old to walk or bike. Whether it be an older resident going out for a walk to stay active or to exercise their dogs or a school-age child wanting to ride their bike to school, the empowering of residents should be a priority for the City of Newport Beach. In addition to sidewalks and bike lanes, I feel the City should also examine the pressing need to calm traffic in the Newport Heights neighborhood. Way too often Newport Heights is used a "pass-thru" or shortcut for commuting motorists. This use contributes to a high volume of automobile traffic moving at speeds that are unsuitable and unsafe for these residential neighborhoods. The introduction of raised crosswalks, bulb-outs/chokers/neckdowns at intersections, and/or speed bumps are just some of the ways to reduce vehicle speeds of commuters which would help to increase pedestrian and cyclist safety. By providing safe routes for pedestrians and cyclists, the City will be encouraging residents to pursue active transit solutions for their local trips. Once again, thank you for taking the time to study these issues. Regards, • Steven C. Shepherd P: 714 785 9404 From: City Clerk's Office Sent: Tuesday, January 28, 2020 3:59 PM To: Mulvey, Jennifer; Rieff, Kim Subject: FW: Newport Heights Pedestrian and Bicycle Facility Discussion From: Portia Weiss Sent: Tuesday, January 28, 2020 3:53:50 PM (UTC -08:00) Pacific Time (US & Canada) To: Dept - City Council; City Clerk's Office Subject: Newport Heights Pedestrian and Bicycle Facility Discussion [EXTERNAL EMAIL] DO NOT CLICK links or attachments unless you recognize the sender and know the content is safe. I am opposed to the idea of adding more sidewalks to Newport Heights. The idea of such a capital and time intensive uneccessary project should not adopted, let alone at the burden of the homeowners. Any removal of mature trees and landscaping to accommodate the sidewalk project would have a detrimental impact on our community. If there was a time we truly needed trees, it is now. We need trees for our very survival as they support our fragile ecosystems, cool our streets, add aesthetic beauty, in addition to the removal of CO2 which is building up in our atmosphere in frightening proportions. Among other cities, both Irvine and Los Angeles have instituted laudeable reforestation projects in conjunction with improved high quality tree management and maintenance practices. Newport Beach cannot afford to destroy trees unless absolutely necessary. It has been shown that the installation of trees along streets can visually narrow a street and encourage slower speeds. Why not plant more trees, rather than remove them and pour more concrete, to help slow traffic down in the name of safety? We have already benefited from the traffic calming measures installed by the city over the last few years. The enforcement of existing motor vehicle laws in our neighborhood is all we need to maintain safer streets. Speeding, rolling stop signs and obvious cell phone usage by distracted drivers are all very common sights in our neighborhood. The presence of local traffic officers is not. In addition to enforcing current laws, the mere reduction of speed limits by 5 miles per hour could also be implemented to increase safety. Please reroute city efforts to add sidewalks to Newport Heights and focus upon simply enforcing our existing traffic laws. It is worth a try. Thank you. Portia Weiss 1 From: Rieff, Kim Sent: Tuesday, January 28, 2020 3:52 PM To: Mulvey, Jennifer Subject: FW: January 28, 2020 Study Session From: Google <hehsan@gmail.com> Sent: Tuesday, January 28, 2020 3:02 PM To: Dept - City Council <CityCouncil@newportbeachca.gov> Subject: January 28, 2020 Study Session [EXTERNAL EMAIL] DO NOT CLICK links or attachments unless you recognize the sender and know the content is safe. Dear Council Members, I am a resident of Newport Heights and a homeowner on Beacon street. Last week I received a postcard from the city regarding a study session about improvements to the traffic conditions in the neighborhood. Unfortunately, the session is scheduled during regular business hours and I will be taking a deposition. However, I was surprised to find out from a neighbor the city is actually intending to engage in substantive planning discussions impacting my property, including the topic of retroactively installing sidewalks. I am very disheartened that the city intends to engage in discussion with significant economic impact on my property value without clearly disclosing its intent and scheduling the meeting so working individuals could attend. I know there are city residents who advocate a host of steps homeowners in Newport Heights should take to improve traffic access to the middle school. However, as a resident who will actually have to absorb the impact of these proposals, I think some of these proposals are misguided and strongly oppose them. The residents on Beacon, Clay, and Tustin streets need to accommodate the pedestrian, car, and bicycle traffic from the school. But we should not have to acquiesce to improvements on our property to compensate for the school's poor design. The school is situated on a large lot. There is ample room to design and build a true pick-up/drop-off zone for cars in a way to separate the cars from pedestrians and bicycles. Other projects the schools has undertaken highlights that it can do much more to address the public nuisance it has created. For example, the schools is finally expanding its teacher parking lot so it can accommodate all of its teachers and obviate the need for teachers to park on the street, which in turn will lessen street congestion. I am more than happy to deal with the construction occurring at the school as it undergoes this expansion and would likewise support additional steps the school could take to streamline the drop off and pick up of students. I sincerely hope the city with not make a decision without hearing from its most -impacted constituency. Thank you, Houman Ehsan From: Rieff, Kim Sent: Tuesday, January 28, 2020 3:30 PM To: Mulvey, Jennifer Subject: FW: NewportHeightsCliffhaven Mtg -----Original Message ----- From: Janet Reuter <janet@3thirty3nb.com> Sent: Tuesday, January 28, 2020 2:38 PM To: Dept - City Council <CityCouncil@newportbeachca.gov> Cc: Avery, Brad <bavery@newportbeachca.gov>; cklobe@me.com; nscarbrough@me.com Subject: NewportHeightsCliffhaven Mtg [EXTERNAL EMAIL] DO NOT CLICK links or attachments unless you recognize the sender and know the content is safe. I am a resident in the Heights and unfortunately am unable to attend today's meeting. I strongly oppose adding more streets in our residential neighborhood to be designated as "significant link" streets at this time and any streetlights. I see the need to address this complicated issue but feel that other alternatives should be pursued before changing the landscape of our neighborhood. Thank you Janet and Jeff Reuter 549 Irvine Newport Beach 949-836-6040 Sent from my iPad Subject: FW: NO to Clay Street "Significant Street" designation (and any thought of dedicated bike lanes) Importance: High From: Samuel DePoy <sdepoy@cscaPita linc.com> Sent: Tuesday, January 28, 2020 3:09 PM To: Dept - City Council<CityCouncilCa@newportbeachca.gov> Subject: NO to Clay Street "Significant Street" designation (and any thought of dedicated bike lanes) Importance: High Council, My name is Sam DePoy and my Family own and reside at 3110 Clay Street. We vehemently oppose any proposal to designate Clay Street as a "Significant" Street. Back in 20018, the City proposed bike lanes on Clay and sidewalks on various streets. All were met with significant resistance from the majority of the residents. That is why various minor improvements were made (additional stop signs, etc.) One year later, here we are again. Why? Is the minority is back in your ear? Does the City have an agenda (`Bicycle Thoroughfare", "Significant Street") for Clay Street that is different than what its residents want? Both? Clay is NOT a thoroughfare. It is a beautiful, tree lined, RESIDENTIAL, NEIGHBORHOOD street. Designating it a "Significant" street will most certainly lead to more traffic. Cutting down trees and installing sidewalks will most certainly create an eyesore and increase speeds with the newly created "wide open" feel. Clay Street a "Significant Street" or "Bicycle Thoroughfare"? ... NO!!!!!!!!i! M1!1 Respectfully, Sam Samuel DePoy Managing Principal CS Capital Management, Inc. 4695 MacArthur Court 11Th Floor Newport Beach, CA 92660 T: 310.988.7303 sdepoy@cscanitalinc.com M11C CSCM' r i Ar o 1� r) '0 euilele9 < ,� y ■ �r n � ariy euy elueS ' any euy elueS ate. l may i Ail ri i'Nm N W ,�,.,�1 i r � > any unsnl -any�usnl � pct � �' s�, �pr r � �! ■ may',. ,1 , ��' .' { W�7,-�, r�9=..■'..-�O - �'f'. any euapoW��3 � Y i - - .,W•�, I any Mialln3 - ariy'awnil . N cl rr�y .•:�� � v �i .•meq. � s - .. � ��. J16 16 0 :, .0 N O O m 0 ' 3 N O 2:06 PM Mon Jan 27 65% Imo__;, = .s q, r YfiaL .-e f '.•< r _ . yl•, „ l r.", yr,�. rJ� r A � sit7 5 ), ���la �`, +• ' I� / �1,.",' ; r �yjyjr L. / f�tt•� ��yl, "t���? �. - '-.may, ; 1� � ° . e 1, '/ r ,..,� � ;,,/ J�r,t�� "� i' .Ltt •�� �_ �. .. .',.fir\.jR,\ 1wL .d-'. �� �,. 1��. •�, pn�. i 'n - I to { Google .dT � \ � 3� � ;� «: � � d « x . y . . � m 3 - � ��\ r r' r rIWLL r i k r r'