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Home My WebLink About00 - Written CommentsReceived after Agenda Printed January 23, 2024 Written Comments January 23, 2024, City Council Agenda Comments The following comments on items on the Newport Beach City Council agenda are submitted by: Jim Mosher (iimmosher(@yahoo.com ), 2210 Private Road, Newport Beach 92660 (949-548-6229) Item 1. Minutes for the January 9, 2024 City Council Meeting The passages shown in italics below are from the draft minutes with suggested corrections shown in th*eou underline format. The page number refers to Volume 66. Page 15, Item A, Mayor Pro Tern Stapleton: "Recognized the Surfside-Sunset Beach Sand Replenishment Project and the Newport Beach Chamber of Commerce and Commodores and the Newport Beach and Company for conducting the best Newport Beach Christmas Boat Parade to date" Page 18, Item 6, paragraph 2: "In response to Councilmember Weigand's question, Public Works Director Webb stated that staff is confident with the bid and indicated that the International Line Builders is a reputable and qualified company. He noted that surplus funds will be returned to the property owner owners and the final costs will be unknown until the c- final phase is completed." [The work for Assessment District No. 124 is being executed in multiple phases with a single shared cost pledged to be borne by the property owners. The comment was that although the current phase looks like it will cost less than expected, other phases may not. So, whether refunds are due cannot be determined until the cost of awarding and completing all the phases is known.] Page 19, paragraph 4 from end: "In response to Mayor Pro Tem Stapleton's question, Library Services Director Hartson stated that the library typically holds approximately two events per month in the Central Library Fps Friends Room that are outside of the NBPLF." Page 20, first partial paragraph: "..., expressed concern that the Library Lecture Hall will not be under the Board of Library Trustees' control but will become a civic building, ..." Page 20, first full paragraph: "Lizanne Witte, member of the NBPLF, noted that a cultural facility has not been built in the City since the Central Library was built 30 years ago despite the City's growing wealth and population, the Board of the NBPLF saw a need and conducts successful programs in spite of the limitations of the Frie nWs Friends Room, other organizations and businesses have expressed a need for event space, and this is Council's chance to build a cultural destination in the City that will serve the public into the future." Page 20, paragraph 5 from end: "Jennifer Van Berg Bergh stated she is excited about the project and this is a unique opportunity to build a building that would enrich community long after everyone is gone." January 23, 2024, City Council agenda comments - Jim Mosher Page 2 of 3 Item 3. Ordinance No. 2024-1: Amending Sections 17.35.030 (Bayward Location of Piers and Floats) and 17.35.060 (Balboa Island - Noncommercial Piers) of the Newport Beach Municipal Code and Repealing City Council Policy H-1 See my comments on Item 3 from January 9, when this ordinance was introduced. I continue to think it is ill conceived. As previously explained, in addition to other problems, since most of the pierhead lines in Newport Harbor were established by the federal government, the Council needs their approval to change them. Item 19. Ordinance Nos. 2024-2 and 2024-3 and Resolution Nos. 2024- E and 2024-7: Authorizing the Baldwin & Sons Medical Office at 20 Corporate Plaza I have no particular problem with this project. I do (as indicated on pare 19-7 of the staff report) have major concerns with City staff's Charter Section 423 (Greenlight) analysis of Newport Center (Statistical Area 1_1), which stems not from this proposed General Plan Amendment, but from the Council's repeated bungling of the Robert O Hill resort project at what is now being called The Tennis and Pickleball Club. As I have recounted many times, Table LU2 of the comprehensive General Plan Update approved in 2006 listed the Tennis Club property as Anomaly 46 and gave it a MU-H3/PR land use designation, allocating to it 3,725 sf of development (presumably the size of the existing clubhouse), 24 Tennis Courts and "Residential permitted in accordance with MU-H3." Since the MU-H3 category included a shared allocation of 65 hotel rooms and up to 540 dwelling units, this seemed more than adequate to construct Mr. O Hill's resort. However, by the time plans came forth, all the hotel rooms and all but 5 of the dwelling units had been entitled to projects elsewhere in the MU-H3 portion of the statistical area. In 2012, despite the lack of remaining General Plan capacity in area L1, the City Council approved a development agreement on the assumption that giving up 17 tennis courts and adding 27 hotel rooms would be "consistent" with the General Plan.' But finding something "consistent" is not the same as amending the General Plan to reflect the new interpretation, and does not trigger a Greenlight analysis. The reason the General Plan was not amended in 2012 was that the Council had just added 21,000 sf of development to area L1 to allow expansion of the neighboring Newport Country Club golf clubhouse.2 That had been within the Council's discretion, under Charter Section 423, to add up to 40,000 sf to each statistical area every 10 years. But formally amending the General Plan to add to that 27 new ' The development agreement was introduced as Item 14 on March 13, 2012, and approved as Item 3 on March 27, 2012. The agreement also appears to have allowed "a 2,170 square -foot concierge and guest meeting facility and a 7,490 square -foot spa/fitness center" 2 Item 15 on January 24, 2012. January 23, 2024, City Council agenda comments - Jim Mosher Page 3 of 3 hotel rooms (at least 27,000 sf) on The Tennis Club property would have gone over the 10-year limit and required voter approval. Hence, no General Plan amendment triggering a Greenlight analysis happened in 2012. Fast forward to November 14, 2023, when, with application PA2021-260, processed as Item 21, the Council finally (and for the first time) attempted to amend the General Plan to allocate sufficient capacity to Anomaly 46 to accommodate a new version of Mr. O Hill's resort. This was the only amendment to Anomaly 46 since 2006. It was apparently the intent of the resulting Resolution No. 2023-70 for the General Plan to allow a 41-room hotel and possibly 9,700 sf of additional development at Anomaly 46. However, as I attempted to point out to the Council at the time, the actual amendment approved by the Council, found as Exhibit A on page 14 did not include a hotel or spa: Exhibit A General Plan Amendment for the Tennis and Pickleball Club at Newport Bench Anarnaly Statistical Land Use WumhAr I ArAn Dp,6ong5 46 1-1 1 MU-HNPR DevelWment Development Limit Lin'Fi#�St] {Other} 3.725 4 Tennis Courts 14 Pickleball Courts Additional Information ReuWo"�W FW9FM#aGl in K�e�� 1 ,..ua 5 residential ands permitted Table 1 on page 19-5 of the present staff report, and page 19-67 of the proposed General Plan Amendment, purport to show the effect of last November's Newport Beach Tennis and Pickleball Club action on the Charter Section 423 analysis. But it cannot be right. It shows 14,000 sf having been added to Statistical Area L1, corresponding to the addition of 14 hotel rooms. However, as indicated above, no hotel rooms were added in November. Alternatively, if the Council wishes to revisit its November action, since there have been no prior amendments to Anomaly 46, everything added by that action beyond what was allocated in 2006 would be new and need to be analyzed for Greenlight compliance. If it includes 41 hotel rooms, let alone a meeting facility and spa, then all of that would be appearing for the first time in the General Plan, so that amendment for the Newport Beach Tennis and Pickleball Club, by itself, would be over the 40,000 sf Greenlight limit and require voter ratification — and presumably hold additional General Plan amendments for area L1, such as the present one, in abeyance until the voter approval is obtained or not.