HomeMy WebLinkAboutGordon Adams 05232019From: Lee, Amanda
Sent: Thursday, May 23, 2019 12:17 PM
To: Murillo, Jaime
Subject: FW:
From: Gordon A <goadams13@gmail.com>
Sent: Thursday, May 23, 2019 12:15 PM
To: Planning Commissioners <PlanningCommissioners@newportbeachca.gov>
Subject:
ear Newport Beach City Planning Commission Members,
My name is Gordon Adams. I was born and raised in Newport
Beach. My wife and I own 1800 Kings Rd. My mother and dad
first moved to Kings Rd in 1977. My purpose in writing to you
all of you today, quite simply, is to solicit your support to deny
the variance exception being requested for 1113 Kings Rd. I'm
not able to attend tonight's meeting to present these points in
person so putting my thoughts in writing are the next best
option.
Please consider the following points when making your
decision. I'm sure some of the points will be one's you've heard
before but I hope you'll strongly consider the much less obvious
points that have very negative ramifications on our Kings Rd
community and the city at large.
The obvious:
1. Why should one homeowner be granted a variance when it
will negatively affects significantly more than one other
homeowner. In this case the exception will impact the views of
significantly more than just the homeowner across the street. So
in this case one person gets the benefit and 6-8 homeowners will
be permanently negatively affected...and possibly their home
values with it.
2. The slippery slope: Once we grant one exception it just keeps
opening the floodgates for more exceptions until eventually we
don't have any controls. At the current pace, it won't be long
before the entire cliff side wipes out the views from the street
side. See the less so obvious impact of this below.
3. The homeowner requesting the variance has lived there for
years so they had an obligation to know what they could and
could not build without a variance. How big does a house need
to be? I'm all for property owners being able to build their
dream home but not where they need a variance that comes at
the expense of others. The home we rebuilt did not have a single
exception request.
The not so obvious:
1. These exceptions continue to pit neighbor against
neighbor. In this case the family requesting the variance
intentionally hid the request from his "so called" neighbor and
tried to hide the notice for the meeting tonight in order to avoid
the obvious concern it would cause. Just think how you would
feel if your "neighbor" did the same thing to you. If we stop
giving out these unnecessary variances people will stop asking
for them and neighbors won't be hiding from each other. Just
imagine how those neighbors are going to get along in the
future. Obviously it's going to permanently impact their
relationship. Rather than building a community these
exceptions turn neighbors against each other. You all have the
authority and the responsibility to stop this from happening.
2. Why do Cameo Shores and Irvine Terrace have height
restrictions that are maintained. Obviously they did not want
one neighbor from being able to permanently negatively impact
another neighbor and create the chaos that follows. That's the
chaos we have on Kings Rd. As a result, there is nothing close
to a neighborhood community on Kings Rd. We've been living
here for two years and you can feel the tension between the two
sides of the street. We moved here from Laguna Niguel and are
amazed at how little community feel there is compared to other
Newport Beach communities. I guarantee the home height and
variance exception issue is a big reason. Every time a new
homeowner tears down a home on the cliff side the homeowners
on the street side are in a panic that their views and their home
values are going take a hit.
Your job is to improve the lives of the people that live in
Newport Beach. These sorts of variances don't accomplish that
and, in fact, they hurt our city. I hope you'll take all of this in
consideration when you vote on the issue before you
tonight. Please don't hesitate to email me back or call me to
discuss any of these points.
Respectfully,
Gordon Adams
949 233 6936