HomeMy WebLinkAbout00 - Public Comments - Non-AgendaNewport Beach City Council Meeting - Tuesday, 11 /26/2013
Presentation by Dale Skiles (long -time Bluffs'resident)
I love the Bluffs and the neighboring Eastbluff community. I've been a resident of the original Bluffs for going
on 34 years. In the late 1970s, I purchased an end -unit condo off Vista del Oro— directly across the street from
the Corona del Mar High School athletic field. I thought it was perfect because not only was ingress /egress on
Vista del Oro so easy, but I'd also be able to enjoy the track for regular exercise. And as a former school
teacher, the sound of kids enjoying school was comfortably familiar to me.
Building a high - school sports facility across the street from the Bluffs and Eastbluff is a terrible idea. If one
were looking for an apt location for a high - school sports facility, one might look to a commercial area or off a
busy street where ambient noise levels are already high. The Bluffs is a quiet residential neighborhood.
Forcing longtime residents and property owners in this pastoral neighborhood to bear the cost of noise,
disruption and increased traffic and parking will place a surcharge on our community that is neither legal nor
reasonable. Although I am not a lawyer, I believe it is also an unconstitutional taking without compensation.
Yes, there have been parking issues from sports activities over the years. But nothing as major as what we will
have to endure with regularly - scheduled activities, school and non - school related, in this proposed new sports
facility. In fact, parking is already a major problem around the school and the immediate vicinity. With the
new sports facility crowds, parking will impact areas even further into the Bluffs and Eastbluff.
Access for Bluffs and Eastbluff residents is an extremely important issue. The three surrounding streets in this
residential neighborhood are two -lane, one lane each way, and not built for heavy traffic and parking.
Residents already suffer traffic and parking difficulties on regular school days and even greater difficulties
when major school events are occurring. Emergency access for Bluffs and Eastbluff residents (a great many of
whom are aging seniors) will become even -more challenging with the major influx of outsiders for school
sports activities.
In addition, the current familiar sounds from football scrimmages, etc., will increase to include the sounds of a
thousand or more spectators cheering loudly, bands playing, lights glaring, trash from food and beverages
brought in by the spectators, which will most likely be strewn around, and everything else that goes with it.
Home games for the home team are burdensome enough. But we are told that the stadium will be rented out
to others, most likely for various sporting events. Renting the stadium to others is a change in use that was
never contemplated when the school was built. In addition, we will be confronted with more sound, more
traffic and more parking intrusions... all with a potential negative impact on our property values.
So what is the answer? The Bluffs and Eastbluff residents do not have all the facts about alternatives to this
proposed facility, but we do know that the school has functioned for 51 years without it and could survive
without one at this location going forward. We ask that the Newport Beach City Council consider whether
the proposed sports facility is so urgently needed that it must be built at this location at substantial cost to the
neighborhood. Further, we ask the council to recognize our concerns and act resolutely to prevent this
permanent negative impact to our community.
Thank you for listening.
Z)a& Skiw / Bluffs' resident since 1979